Portugal exam digitisation errors force repeat grading; minister apologises, 92% corrected

Digitisation failures acknowledged

The Portuguese Ministry of Education confirmed on Monday that the digitisation of national secondary school exams was marred by multiple errors. Answer sheets with folds were not scanned correctly, some continuation sheets were entirely missed, and a number of exams were not initially handed over by schools to the security forces for transport to the Imprensa Nacional-Casa da Moeda (INCM), where scanning takes place. The ministry said a quality verification and validation process had been under way since the previous week.

The errors forced some teachers to correct the same exam two or even three times. In statements to journalists outside a Lisbon school, Education Minister Fernando Alexandre admitted the problem and apologised directly.

Peço desculpa aos professores. Houve professores que tiveram de corrigir duas e três vezes a mesma prova. É lamentável mas é a confirmação que temos mecanismos de controlo de qualidade.

The minister stressed that "os professores não podem corrigir provas com erros" and that the verification was essential to ensure the integrity of the grading. All exams stored at the INCM are anonymised, and no grading takes place there.

Grading progress and timeline

As of Monday morning, 92% of the roughly 300,000 exams for years 11 and 12 had been corrected, with the figure climbing towards 93% by midday. The minister said teachers worked intensively over the weekend and that the remaining exams would be finished by Tuesday, 14 July.

The ministry has a dynamic pool of graders; teachers can be called in at any moment, including over the weekend, to prevent bottlenecks. Fernando Alexandre acknowledged that "o processo teve muita entropia inicialmente" and that "os professores tiveram muitas dificuldades, causadas pelo sistema informático," but said the problems were being fixed and the correction pace was now very high.

Results are scheduled to be posted in schools on Friday, 17 July. A new quality-control process started that same Monday to match every paper exam with its digital file, and the ministry promised to make the digitised exams available to students so they could verify their answers.

Political tensions and PM’s backing

Prime Minister Luís Montenegro publicly backed his education minister, dismissing calls for his resignation. Speaking in Castelo de Paiva, Aveiro, he said "os ministros, como os secretários de Estado, como o primeiro-ministro, estão no Governo para resolver problemas. Não é para se queixar dos problemas ou para esmorecer quando eles aparecem." Montenegro accused some critics of "aproveitamentos que tentam exacerbar, e quase mesmo desejar que as coisas corram mal."

The centre-left Partido Socialista (PS) demanded explanations. PS official André Mochaidas said the government must clarify reports that ministry staff had accessed the storage room where exams are kept, which he said could "irremediavelmente quebrada a confiança no processo de avaliação." He warned that if the government fails to respond, the PS would move closer to a parliamentary inquiry.

School directors await instructions

The Council of Schools met with the minister on Monday. Its president, António Castel-Branco, said the minister conveyed a message of "tranquilidade e serenidade" and confirmed 92% of exams were already corrected. However, directors still did not know their exact role in distributing digitised exams to about 166,000 secondary students. Castel-Branco said schools might only have to certify student identity and that "não haver motivos para preocupação," although he admitted there could be extra work.

Next steps for students

The ministry announced that a new control process would ensure each paper exam corresponds exactly to its digital file, and that the PDF would later be handed over to students. The goal is to allow transparency and enable requests for re-marking if students are unsatisfied with their results.