Digitalized exams and “Moda Tests” are coming

The Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation has presented a new model for external student assessment. This model will come into effect next school year.

The objective is to improve the monitoring of the quality of learning and, therefore, contribute to school strategies for improving learning, as well as to guiding public policies.
No New model highlights:

Learning Monitoring Tests (ModA) in the 4th and 6th years in Portuguese, Mathematics and a rotating subject every three years, as provided for in the Government Program.
Comparability of results in Basic Education, which will allow monitoring the evolution of learning over time.
Electronic classification in all cycles of Basic Education and, in Secondary Education, from 2025/2026, after a pilot in the next academic year.
Valuing the digital format in evaluation processes with guarantees of equity.


Academic year from 2024/2025
The new model for external student assessment emphasizes the comparability of results in primary education between academic years and between school years, following the international trend of learning monitoring, which will be innovative in Portugal. On the other hand, the use of digital technology in assessment and classification processes is also reinforced, with guarantees of equity.
The guiding principles of the new model are:

Assessment at the end of all teaching cycles (4th, 6th and 9th years and in Secondary Education);
Comparability of results in Basic Education — tests are no longer public and anchor items are used from year to year;
Assessment in digital support in Basic Education, with mechanisms to guarantee equity;
Electronic classification at all levels of education;
Timely monitoring and reporting (student and school reports made available before the new school year; national reports released in November; data for public scrutiny by the end of the calendar year).







The new model will monitor the progress of students’ learning and allow schools to improve their strategies to improve this learning.