More than half of the over 20,000 requests to have Portugal's national secondary school exams regraded have now been processed, and most of those reviews have resulted in higher marks than students originally received in the first phase, Education, Science and Innovation Minister Fernando Alexandre said on Monday.
"At this hour, more than 50% of the regradings are already complete," Alexandre told reporters after a debate on the national exams before the Standing Committee of the Assembly of the Republic, Portugal's parliament.
Of the more than 10,000 requests completed so far, 70% resulted in an improved grade compared with the one initially awarded, 20% resulted in a lower grade and 10% saw no change, the minister said. He described this pattern as similar to that seen in previous years.
Fee for regrading requests
Students who ask for a regrading pay 25 euros per exam paper. Responding to criticism of the charge, Alexandre insisted it was a "moderating fee" and noted that the money is refunded if the regrading results in a higher grade.
The minister also said that despite problems identified during the marking of this year's national secondary school exams, no student would be harmed in their access to higher education.
He said mechanisms exist to handle cases that may arise this year, adding that such non-conformity problems occur every year but had not previously been visible to Portuguese society. Alexandre noted that current regulations already allow a student to change their higher education application after receiving the result of a regrading.
For that reason, he said there were no grounds to alter the calendar for the first phase of the national higher education access competition, whose application period closes on Thursday. Nearly 48,000 students had already registered, more than in the same period last year, he said.
Technical failures in first digital exams
This year marked the first time Portugal's national secondary school exams were marked in digital format. The process was hit by several technical failures during the first phase, which forced the release of grades to be pushed back by several days.
Even with that postponement, the results were only published on the night of the rescheduled date, and many students had to wait several additional days to learn their marks.
The second phase of the exams also began later than planned, running from 21 to 24 July. Alexandre said the main problems had since been resolved, and reported on Monday that 97% of answers had already been graded.
What happens next
The results of the second phase are due to be published on Friday, along with the outcomes of the more than 20,000 regrading requests filed over first-phase exams.
Despite the delays, the Ministry of Education has kept the original application timetable for the first phase of the national higher education access competition, which ends on 6 August. It has, however, created a special exam session, to run from 3 to 8 September.
