According to the MEC, 4,359 candidates were eliminated on the first day of Enem 2026. — Photo: MEC
According to the Minister of Education, Leonardo Barchini, 36 of these locations are in Rio de Janeiro, two in Amapá and one in Minas Gerais.
The Ministry of Education (MEC) plans to re-administer the exam for affected candidates.
The incidents were recorded amid the storms and strong winds that hit Rio de Janeiro since Saturday (7), causing interruptions in the power supply.
In Santa Catarina, two other application sites, in the municipalities of Seara and Canoinhas, had to be changed due to damage caused by rain in schools in the state.
According to the minister, these changes were communicated to students before taking the tests.
The reapplication is scheduled for December 15th and 16th. To participate, affected candidates must make the request between November 16th and 20th, via the Participant Page, presenting documents that prove the problem.
In addition to situations such as power outages and other logistical problems, students suffering from infectious diseases set out in the notice can also request reapplication.
Requests will be analyzed individually by the National Institute of Educational Studies and Research Anísio Teixeira (Inep).
Despite the problems, Barchini stated that the first day of application occurred without major complications.
During a press conference, the minister said that he received a call from President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva at around 6:30 pm, when he presented a preliminary assessment of the tests.
According to the MEC, 4,359 candidates were eliminated on the first day. The preliminary abstention rate was 32%, while 68% of those registered attended the test sites.
The minister stated that the percentage of absentees was slightly higher than last year (27%), which was already expected due to the expansion of automatic registrations of public school students.
Enem 2023: test locations are the target of complaints from candidates — Photo: Luis Lima Jr/Fotoarena/Estadão Conteúdo
Barchini highlighted, however, that the numbers are still preliminary. According to him, information from some states continues to be received and should be consolidated throughout the week.
A more precise assessment of abstention will be possible after the second day of tests, scheduled for November 15th.
In total, Enem 2026 had 5,053,921 confirmed registrations, with tests administered in 1,901 municipalities, an unprecedented number.
The operation mobilized more than 596 thousand professionals, distributed across 14,868 application sites and more than 184 thousand rooms.
More public school students
Barchini also highlighted the new features of this edition, which seeks to increase the participation of students who are completing high school in the public network.
Among the changes are the automatic registration of these students and the expansion of application locations. According to the minister, more than 85% of students took the test at the school where they study.
The number of registered public school graduates reached 1,969,372, equivalent to 39% of the total number of candidates.
The MEC's initial estimate is that around 250,000 more students from this group will have taken the Enem compared to 2025.
The expectation is that the participation of public school graduates will reach approximately 65%, compared to 53.8% last year. The definitive numbers, however, will still be consolidated by Inep.
For the first time, Enem will also be used to assess the quality of Brazilian basic education, replacing the assessment of the Basic Education Assessment System (Saeb) applied to third-year high school students.
According to Barchini, the change was coordinated with the state Education departments and will allow for a broader analysis of learning.
This is because, while Saeb mainly assessed knowledge of Portuguese and mathematics, Enem covers the four areas of knowledge.
The minister stated that the initiative will allow the government to obtain a more accurate diagnosis of Brazilian education and will contribute to the development of public policies aimed at improving education.
Barchini also classified the 2026 edition as the most inclusive in the exam's history.
According to him, more than 40 thousand candidates with some type of disability participated in the tests, and there was an increase in specialized services.
This Sunday, participants answered 90 questions, divided equally between Languages and Human Sciences, in addition to producing an essay on the valorization of the Unified Health System (SUS) as a universal right.
The second day of tests is scheduled for next Sunday (15), with 45 questions from Mathematics and another 45 from Natural Sciences.
