 This system guaranteed a prominent independence between the two levels (bachelor's and CESE) since it was not compulsory to maintain a coherence of subjects.The diploma of specialised higher education (DESE - "Diploma de Estudos Superiores Especializados") thus emerged much more as a post-graduate diploma than a complementary education to the bachelor student who wanted a licentiate degree.Changing the structure of the CESE into two-stage degrees obtained in two levels known as "licenciatura bietápica" (bachelor's and licentiate, in which access to the second level is granted immediately after completing the first), as consigned in Administrative Rule 413A/98 of 17 July 1998, removed the formal differences between the university "licenciatura" and the new two-stage polytechnic "licenciatura" ("licenciatura bietápica").