Portuguese exam results to be posted Friday after troubled first phase

Government confirmation

On Thursday, August 6, the Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation (MECI) confirmed that second-phase national exam results for secondary education and final exams for 9th-year basic education will be posted in schools on Friday morning, August 7, as originally scheduled. The Júri Nacional de Exames (JNE) was to send the results to schools by 17:30 on Thursday, though school directors only began receiving them around 19:00, according to Correio da Manhã. Filinto Lima, president of the National Association of Directors of Public Schools, told TSF that schools were already receiving the evaluations on Thursday. The ministry, led by Fernando Alexandre, stated that conditions are met for posting on Friday morning.

“According to the National Exam Jury (JNE), the conditions are met for the posting and availability of classifications to students and families on Friday morning, the 7th, as planned.”

The MECI also highlighted that improvements and corrections introduced in the digitalization and electronic classification process in the second phase produced effects, with that phase proceeding with normality and tranquility. The ministry thanked teachers for their rigor, though this view contrasts with errors and failures reported by educators.

Re-evaluation delays

Results of the first-phase re-evaluation process, covering more than 20,000 exam requests, will be sent to schools during Friday morning but posted only in the afternoon, due to what the ministry called the elevated number of re-evaluation requests. On Monday, August 3, the minister reported that about 50% of re-evaluation requests had been completed by that date, while 97% of second-phase items had been evaluated by Sunday. The Missão Escola Pública (MEP) teachers' movement said on Wednesday that it would be "practically impossible" to complete all re-evaluations by the end of the week, noting that teachers were still being called in recent days to analyze revision requests. MEP spokesperson Cristina Mota cited documentation shortages and constraints on the platform used for the process.

First-phase problems and opposition criticism

The first phase of exams was marked by significant problems. The ministry had delayed the publication of results to July 17, but grades were posted gradually between July 17 and 19, and hundreds of students waited weeks for their results. The second phase of exams ran from July 21 to 24. Opposition figures have maintained criticism of the process. Porfírio Silva, vice-president of the PS parliamentary bench, told DN that he feared pressure to meet the calendar could again result in the publication of grade lists without guarantees of reliability, similar to what he argued occurred in the first phase.

Impact on higher education applications

Students whose grades change as a result of re-evaluation will have three consecutive days after the results are published to submit or modify their applications for the first phase of the national higher education access competition, even though the application deadline ended on Thursday, August 6. The ministry also announced that schools can begin sending PDF files of classified exams to students starting Friday, a new measure introduced this year to reinforce transparency. In previous years, students had to file a formal request to consult their exams. The government decided to provide copies of classified exams to all students due to failures in the classification process. A special exam period will run from September 3 to 8.