## What DGERT is

DGERT stands for Direção-Geral do Emprego e das Relações de Trabalho, the Directorate-General for
Employment and Labour Relations. It is the government entity that certifies training
organisations in Portugal.

Certification means the government has verified that the organisation meets quality standards for
delivering training: curriculum, instructor qualifications, assessment methods and administrative
processes.

## Why it is the thing that matters on the PLA route

This is the single most important distinction on this pathway, and it is easy to miss.

The certificate you end up holding is only as good as the entity that issued it. A Portuguese
course from a provider without DGERT certification may teach you excellent Portuguese and still
produce a document the Conservatória declines to accept. You would then have the language and not
the proof, having spent the money and the months.

## How to verify it

DGERT certification is public information and can be checked through DGERT's official website.

Ask any provider you are considering for their DGERT certification number, and then verify it
yourself rather than taking the number on trust. A legitimate provider will give it readily and
will encourage you to check.

If a provider is evasive about their DGERT status, or cannot produce a number, treat that as
disqualifying rather than as something to work around.

## What to check on the certificate itself

It should state the level achieved (A2), the hours completed, and the issuing entity's DGERT
certification number. Those three facts are what make it legible to a Conservatória.

## A note about us

We are not a DGERT-certified training provider, we do not run PLA courses, and we do not issue
certificates. We are an independent tool for practising the CIPLE reading paper.