Do they take Unified State Exam in Brazil too? - Anna Lisina

In Brazil, the exam for high school students or ENEM (Exame Nacional do Ensino Medio in Portuguese) was introduced in 1998. In 2009, the provisions of the exam were changed. ENEM is a non-mandatory standardised Brazilian exam administered by the Brazilian Federal Research Institute of the Ministry of Education (INEP), which developed and coordinates the test. The examination tests the knowledge of secondary school pupils in Brazil. The examination lasts between 5 and 5.5 hours.

Thus, we can say that this exam is the equivalent of our Unified State Exam (USE), which is taken in Russia after 11th grade. However, there are certainly differences in the formats for this exam.

The ENEM counts as an entrance test for admission to many universities in Brazil, as well as for the secondary school diploma.

Since 2009, ENEM has been used by higher education institutions to enrol students in undergraduate programmes.

ENEM structure

The ENEM exam consists of four tests, each with 45 multiple-choice questions, i.e. 180 questions with only a few options. Students are also required to write an essay.

The aim of this exam is to test students' knowledge in five main areas, namely science, mathematics, humanities, Portuguese and English or Spanish as a foreign language.

ENEM scoring

The examination is checked by two examiners independent of each other. Each assessor scores from 0 to 200 points in each of the five knowledge areas, for a total of 1,000 points.

The final grade corresponds to the arithmetic average of the scores given by the two assessors. If the difference between the two grades is too great, the essay is then tested by a third examiner.

In 2022, the ENEM exam will be held from 13 to 20 November. The cost of taking the exam in 2022 is 85 Brazilian reais (about 900 Russian roubles).

Thus, we can conclude that the Brazilian ENEM is very similar to the Russian USE, as the aim of such examinations is to gain admission to higher education.

Anna Lisina, editor of the international network.