At the end of last year, almost 95,000 9th-year students took the final Portuguese and Mathematics tests, which again counted towards the calculation of the final classification and completion of the 3rd cycle, a rule suspended in 2020 due to teaching remotely and confinement caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The average grade for Portuguese improved compared to the previous year, rising from 2.9 values ​​to 3.1, while the negative average for Mathematics remained unchanged at 2.5 values, according to an analysis carried out by Lusa of almost 188 thousand tests carried out evaluated between one and five values.

The majority of students (58%) failed Mathematics, unlike Portuguese in which three out of four young people tested positive (78%), taking into account data provided by the Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation (MECI).

The schools with the best average results continue to be schools, which occupy the top places in the Lusa tables, where the best-ranked public establishments are artistic music and dance schools.

In a universe of 1,017 public schools analyzed, only 4% had Mathematics positive, while among the 199 schools, the average positive rate was 64%. As for Portuguese, the majority of public schools (60%) had a positive average, as did schools (87%).

In Portuguese, the first public school is the Escola Artística de Dança of the Conservatório Nacional, in Lisbon, while the Mathematics podium belongs to the Escola Artística de Música do Conservatório Nacional, also in Lisbon.

The average of four values ​​from the 20 tests carried out by students at the Escola Artística de Dança do Conservatório Nacional, in Lisbon, places the school in 18th place in a table led by Colégio Horizonte, which occupies 1st place, with an average of 4.4 values, followed by Colégio Novo da Maia, in Maia (4.34), and Grande Colégio Universal, in Porto (4.31).

The highest average results in Portuguese were achieved by students from Braga, Coimbra, Porto, Viana do Castelo, Vila Real, and Viseu. The lowest grades come from schools in Beja, Faro, Portalegre, Setúbal, and the Autonomous Region of the Azores and in Portuguese schools abroad.

In Mathematics, 1st place goes to Colégio Novo da Maia with an average of 4.51 values, followed by Colégio de Nossa Senhora do Alto, in Faro (4.44), and Colégio D. Diogo de Sousa, in Braga (4.33).

In 22nd place comes the first public institution with the best results in Mathematics: The Music Conservatory with an average of 3.95, followed in 28th place by Escola Secundária Infanta D. Maria, Coimbra (3.88), and in 40th the Artistic Dance School of the National Conservatory, Lisbon.

The best average results in Mathematics were achieved in Coimbra, Viana do Castelo, and Viseu, and the lowest average results were obtained in Beja, Portalegre, Setúbal, and the Autonomous Region of the Azores.

The return of national tests makes it possible to once again identify students who manage to complete the cycle without failing any year and with positive results in both tests, an indicator known as “direct path to success” and which shows that poverty continues to have an impact on academic results.

In the 2021/2022 academic year, only one in three students (34%) managed to complete a successful path, with students from the districts of Braga and Viana do Castelo being those with the most success stories, with percentages above 40%.

The southernmost districts of the country - Setúbal, Faro, Beja, and Portalegre - stand out negatively, with the lowest percentages of success, since in many cases they are below 25%.

Also in this indicator, girls perform better (38%), seven percentage points above boys (success rate of 31%).

The differences in performance in this indicator of students from different socioeconomic strata are also quite pronounced: Among students without social support, 39% managed to follow a successful direct path, while among students with level A of School Social Support (ASE) the rate is only 12%.

With an intermediate value appear students in the B category of the ASE, with only 23% managing to do everything in the expected time and without failing the tests.

In general, the difference in performance between girls and boys was not very noticeable, with emphasis on Portuguese, a test in which they had a slightly higher average and there were many more positive cases (83% compared to 73% for boys).