Enem 2026: writing and linguistic diversity test candidate repertoire in Ribeirão Preto

The essay's theme on the Unified Health System (SUS) and the issues that highlighted Brazil's linguistic diversity put the candidates' sociocultural repertoire and prior reading to the test on the first day of the National High School Exam (Enem) 2026, held this Sunday (8) in Ribeirão Preto (SP).

According to students interviewed by g1 when leaving one of the test locations, those who maintained a reading and simulation routine found it easier to develop their dissertation and interpret the exam support texts.

"It was a topic that had a lot of repertoire, it could be worked on very well. And compared to last year, it was much easier, we had a lot more base to work on", said Isadora Oliveira Monteiro, 17 years old, about the essay topic.

Enem 2026 had more than 5 million registrants across the country. In the region of Ribeirão Preto and Franca (SP) there were more than 48 thousand students participating.

The first stage of the assessment took 5 hours and 30 minutes to resolve 90 objective questions divided between the areas of Languages ​​and Human Sciences, in addition to the dissertation-argumentative writing.

The theme of the essay and Brazilian linguistic diversity

The drafting proposal, which addressed "The valorization of the Unified Health System (SUS) as a universal right", required candidates to be able to identify problems with access to public health and propose alternatives to strengthen the system.

Among the students who trained throughout the year, the proposal was received with optimism, while others found it more difficult to structure their arguments under pressure.

"It was a very unexpected topic, in my opinion. It was about the SUS, the valorization of the Unified Health System, and it also ended up making my writing a little bit complicated to develop", said Pedro Rozeti Estêvão, an 18-year-old trainer.

In the Language section, the linguistic variations of Portuguese spoken in different regions of the country emerged as one of the most prominent and complex points.

One of the questions brought excerpts about the style of the Pará singer Dona Onete, correlating local expressions with the phenomenon of pororoca. For candidate Fernando Rodrigues Tourinho, 29 years old, who is from Pará and took the exam as a personal test, the quote generated immediate identification.

"There was one that talked about the type of language of Dona Onete, who is an artist from Pará, that she used terms in her songs that referred to pororoca. I am from Pará and there were situations there that I related to a little more and had a better understanding of the situation", he explained.

On the other hand, student João Vitor Domingos da Silva, aged 20, who took the Enem for the first time in search of a place in Production Engineering, pointed out the regionalism of the Northeast as the most challenging stage of the test.

"A lot of words that are different even from here to us. It's the same meaning, but totally pronounced in a different way to us, so it stuck with me", he reported.

Massive reading and pranks

The length of the statements and the need for detailed interpretation were classified by the participants as the main factors of mental fatigue during the Enem.

Candidates reported the presence of questions with gotchas and similar alternatives, which required extra attention.

Pedro Rozeti Estêvão highlighted the need for psychological preparation to endure hours in the classroom.

"The test was very difficult, there were a lot of questions that had tricks and a lot of text that you couldn't not read. You had to read everything to be able to formulate a correct alternative, which made the test massive and tiring", he said.

What happened on the 1st day and what to expect from the 2nd part of Enem

In addition to SUS and regionalism, the first day of Enem 2026 addressed relevant contemporary and social topics.

Among the topics covered in the objective questions were the economic impact of the Rouanet Law, the role of the Landless Rural Workers Movement (MST) in agroecology, the conflicts in the Strait of Hormuz, the Digital Statute of Children and Adolescents (ECA Digital) and women's rights in science and sport.

The exam also included literary texts by Clarice Lispector and Lygia Fagundes Telles, cartoons about artificial intelligence and analyzes of the role of music in resisting the Brazilian military dictatorship.

The second and final stage of Enem 2026 will be held next Sunday, November 15th. Candidates will have 5 hours of testing to answer 90 objective questions, divided between 45 on Mathematics and Its Technologies and 45 on Natural Sciences and Its Technologies (Chemistry, Physics and Biology).

Under the supervision of Rodolfo Tiengo.