Half of 9th grade students received a negative grade in the final Mathematics test
Half of the 9th year students who took the final Mathematics test this year obtained a negative grade, less than 50%, the National Examinations Jury (JNE) announced this Monday. According to a note from JNE, in the Portuguese test, on the other hand, the majority of students (76%) obtained a positive grade, equal to or above 50%.
In total, in the first phase, which took place between June 12 and 17, 197,075 final tests of the 3rd cycle of basic education were carried out, of which 94,002 were Mathematics and 92,142 were Portuguese. The average of the Mathematics and Portuguese exams was 51 and 59 points, respectively, on a scale of 0 to 100. Compared to 2023, the average of the Portuguese tests dropped two points, while that of Mathematics rose eight points.
The JNE points out, however, in a reference to the Mathematics exam, that “the fact that tests for the same subject are not comparable between academic years does not allow us to conclude that student performance has improved”.
These statistics only include data from Portuguese and Mathematics tests taken by most students, not including students with special educational needs or who have Portuguese as their non-mother tongue.
The final exams for the 9th year of basic education, which in 2024 were still held in paper format, with the exception of the Portuguese Second Language exams for students with severe to profound deafness, were carried out in 1,219 schools in Portugal and abroad (with Portuguese curriculum).
The exams, which have a weight of 30% in the final grade, were evaluated by 4,874 teachers, with around 10 thousand teachers involved in monitoring the tests. The JNE emphasizes that the tests took place “with the required normality, without any major problems”. The first phase is mandatory for all boarding students who meet the admission conditions.
