The Universidade Católica Portuguesa has once again been recognised as the higher education institution in which the Portuguese people place the most trust, for the second consecutive year, in the “Trusted Brands” survey, conducted annually by Reader’s Digest Selecções magazine.

In addition to retaining its leading position in the “Higher Education Institutions” category, this year’s edition highlights a significant strengthening of the Catholic University’s standing among consumers, with a marked increase in the volume of spontaneous mentions, from 18% in 2025 to 28% in 2026.

This 10-percentage-point increase confirms not only the growing confidence of the Portuguese public, but also the increased visibility and recognition of Universidade Católica Portuguesa.

“This distinction is recognition of the daily work of our academic community to create a university of excellence, with the ambition to transform the world through education, science and the humanist values that form part of our ethos,” emphasises Ana Vidal, Director of Communications and Marketing at Universidade Católica Portuguesa.

According to Reader’s Digest Selecções magazine, “the 26th edition of the study once again reflects the levels of trust among the Portuguese public, establishing itself as a benchmark for assessing perceptions within Portuguese society”. The study also provides an insight into how the relationship of trust between citizens and different sectors of public and private life has evolved.

The analysis covers 60 categories, including professions, public figures, institutions and brands. The methodology is based on open-ended questions, ensuring that responses are entirely spontaneous, without any suggestion or prompting, which reinforces the relevance of the results obtained.