A review of over 500 public and private schools has revealed that none achieved higher average exam scores compared to the grades awarded by teachers. Some schools, however, did show very close results.
An analysis of the 2023/2024 academic year results indicated that seven private schools had a discrepancy of less than one point (on a scale from zero to 20) between their average exam scores and internal grades.
The Colégio de São Tomás in Lisbon proved especially effective in preparing its students for national exams, achieving an exam average of 15.39, closely matching its internal assessment average of 15.45, a difference of just 0.06 points.
In the general ranking compiled based on national exam results, this college stands 5th. However, when examining solely the internal grading average, it ranks 86th, behind numerous schools where teachers provided higher grades over the year while external assessment performance was lower.
Among the top 20 schools with the smallest differences in average scores, only one public school appears: Escola Básica e Secundária Padre José Augusto da Fonseca in Aguiar da Beira.
At this school in the Guarda district, students in 11th and 12th grades achieved an exam average of 11.84, just 1.71 points below the internal grades given by teachers during the academic year.
In comparison, public schools generally exhibited greater discrepancies between internal grades and national exam scores. A significant 79.91% of public schools had grades awarded by teachers exceed exam scores by at least three points, while in 65.79% of private institutions, the difference was less than three points.
Private schools showed a difference of only 2.59 points between internal and exam averages, whereas in public schools, this gap increased to 3.44 points.
The list of 20 schools with the largest discrepancies includes only three private colleges: Real Colégio de Portugal in Lisbon, Colégio Rainha D. Leonor in Caldas da Rainha, and Externato Álvares Cabral, also in Lisbon, which leads unfavorably. The internal grade average at Externato Álvares Cabral was 13.97, a notable 7.07 points above the average exam results.
Data from the Ministry of Education also highlights that, like Externato Álvares Cabral, several schools had negative national exam averages but internal grades above the national average.
Significant discrepancies were further noted at Escola Secundária Fonseca Benevides in Lisbon, with an internal average of 14.62 compared to a 7.91 exam average, followed by the secondary school in Baixa da Banheira (6.69 points difference) and Colégio Rainha D. Leonor (6.32 points difference).
These four are among 20 schools with score differences exceeding five points, and among 144 schools with differences over four points, of which seven are private colleges (4.86%).
