There are more students registered for exams this year in Portugal. Portuguese is once again the most popular test

The number of students enrolled in national secondary education exams grew again this year, approaching pre-pandemic numbers: 156,667 students will take at least one national exam. However, despite the number of registrants growing by another 4.6% compared to last year — when 149,686 students registered for these tests — the percentage of those who intend to apply for higher education falls slightly, as revealed by data released in this Monday by the Ministry of Education. Last year, 59% of students (88,436) said they wanted to go to university; This year, 89,715 say they want to do so, representing 57% of the total number of registrants.

This will be a year of transition between the rules that have been in force for these tests since the pandemic — and which, among others, determined that national exams would only count as proof of entry into higher education — and the new regime for national exams, which restores weight in the final grade of the subject. However, this new regime will only be applied to all students in the next academic year.

This year, nothing changes for 12th year students , who only take the necessary exams as proof of entry to the courses they want to apply for, as was introduced during the pandemic. Students in the 11th year , however, will already have to take some of these changes into account, as they have to take at least three exams to complete secondary education: Portuguese in the 12th year , which becomes mandatory for all students from the four scientific-humanistic courses (Sciences, Economics, Humanities and Visual Arts), plus two exams of their choice. For the purpose of approval and final classification of the subject, they will have to take at least one exam in one of the biennial subjects of specific training or Philosophy.

In addition to serving as entrance exams, secondary exams can also be taken to improve grades or pass subjects that were left behind in past years. This year, there are 96,186 registrations aimed at passing subjects and 47,037 at improving the grade obtained.