Portugal's Education Minister faces scrutiny over delayed national exam results

Portugal's Ministry of Education has been dealing with a troubled rollout of digital grading for the national secondary‑school exams. More than 300,000 papers have been processed, but technical failures in the digital platform and repeated re‑grading of some tests mean only about 99 % of the exams are fully corrected. The minister, Fernando Alexandre, repeatedly assured Parliament that the scores would be published on Friday, yet admitted that if any papers remained ungraded the results could be delayed.

The issue has become a focal point of the State of the Nation debate, with the prime minister Luís Montenegro and opposition leaders from PS, Chega, PCP and others demanding explanations and a contingency plan. Critics accuse the government of shifting blame onto teachers, while teachers and unions warn that quality may be compromised if the results are forced out “at all costs.” The deadline for publishing the grades has been extended several times, and the parliament has scheduled urgent hearings to address the crisis.