Parliament creates inquiry commission into failures in the digital classification of exams

The Assembly of the Republic has established a parliamentary commission of inquiry into the decisions, procurement, and responsibilities regarding the design and execution of the digital grading of the 2025 and 2026 national exams. The decision is contained in the Resolution of the Assembly of the Republic no. 252/2026, approved on September 18, 2026, and published in the Diário da República, 1st series, no. 193, of October 6, 2026.

The decree is signed by the President of the Assembly of the Republic, José Pedro Aguiar-Branco, and is based on paragraph 5 of article 166 and paragraph 1 of article 178 of the Constitution, and subparagraph a) of paragraph 1 of article 2 of Law no. 5/93, of March 1. The object of the inquiry also covers the effects of the organic reorganization of the Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation and its consequences for students, teachers, and the rest of the educational community.

Fifteen axes divided into four areas

The text organizes the inquiry into 15 points, grouped into four axes:

• Axis A — Factual determination (nos. 1 to 4): affected exams, digitalization center, grader pools, and records from the Grading and Supervision Platform.
• Axis B — Technical-contractual and financial determination (nos. 5 to 8): contracts since 2023, execution and oversight, total costs, and data protection.
• Axis C — Procedural decision-making determination (nos. 9 to 11): the decision to generalize digital grading, the reorganization of the ministry, and the failure in the Portuguese language exam prompt.
• Axis D — Determination of political responsibility (nos. 12 to 15): Government statements, effects on access to higher education, conditions imposed on teachers, and responsibilities at all levels.

Swapped exams, contracts, and the Imprensa Nacional

The first axis mandates the determination of the number, typology, and destination of all exams affected in the 1st phase of the 2026 exams: illegible scans, blacked-out answers, blank pages, missing or swapped continuation sheets, cut-off answers, swapped grader profiles, and items that disappeared, were reassigned, or were presented as graded by third parties.

The inquiry seeks to understand the setup and operational conditions of the digitalization center installed at the Imprensa Nacional-Casa da Moeda, SA (INCM, SA), including the number of workers involved, their employment status, the training provided, schedules, and the use of overtime, as well as the verification of conflicts of interest. It must also identify all entities responsible for the Grading and Supervision Platform and all contracts, protocols, and subcontracts entered into since 2023, with their respective objects, values, awardees, and legal grounds, including any recourse to Decree-Law no. 105/2025, of September 12.

The political decision and Government responsibility

The third axis focuses on the process that led to the generalization of digital grading in 2026, including the evaluation reports of the 2025 Philosophy pilot project, the technical opinions, and the risk assessments from the Institute for Educational Evaluation, IP (IAVE, IP), the Institute for Education, Quality and Evaluation, IP (EduQA, IP), the National Examination Board (JNE), and INCM, SA.

The text calls for the determination of consistency between the public statements made by Government members — regarding the absence of setbacks, the falsity of most reports, the responsibility of schools for the summons, and the guarantee that no student would be disadvantaged — and the information available to the Government at each moment. It also covers the full content of the audit report from the General Inspectorate of Education and Science and the conditions under which the equity opinion of EduQA, IP was prepared.

Students, access to higher education, and teachers

The inquiry must determine the consequences of the process and the calendar changes for students, specifically regarding access to higher education, the issuance of the ENES form, the registration deadlines for the 2nd phase, the coordination with the National Access Competition, and the deadlines for re-evaluation, including the lack of recalibration of the competition calendar, in contrast to the 2020 precedent.

It must further determine the conditions imposed on the grading teachers, the actual grading deadlines, the lack of remuneration, the presentation of disclaimers of responsibility, and the treatment given by EduQA, IP, the JNE, and the Ministry to the formal communications addressed to them.

Impact

The inquiry commission places the entire decision and procurement chain for the digital grading of exams under parliamentary scrutiny, in a year marked by the July 3rd retreat and by failures that directly affected students and teachers. The findings may determine political, administrative, and financial responsibilities and influence how the country organizes national exams in the future.

Source: Diário da República, 1st series, no. 193, of October 6, 2026, Assembly of the Republic, pág. 1-2 (official reference: Resolution of the Assembly of the Republic no. 252/2026).