The objective tests and the writing of the Enem (National High School Exam) of 2025 will be applied on the 9th and 16th of November, in almost the entire country, with the exception of the cities of Belém, Ananindeua and Marituba, in Pará.
Due to the holding of COP30 (30th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change), in Belém, from November 10th to 21st, in these locations the tests will take place on November 30th and December 7th.
After the (National Institute of Educational Studies and Research Anísio Teixeira) to publish the individual results of the participants, scheduled for January 2026, the more than 4.8 million confirmed registrants need to know how the grades obtained can be used.
The results can be used to access public universities, to compete for full and partial scholarships at private universities, to apply for student credit to pay tuition at private colleges, to enter colleges without an entrance exam, to study in Portugal, for self-assessment and certification of completion of secondary education or partial declaration of proficiency at this stage of basic education. Annually, Enem is administered by Inep.
Access to Higher Education
Enem is the main gateway to higher education in Brazil. The exam scores can be used to enter Sisu (Unified Selection System), Prouni (University for All Program) and to obtain Fies (Student Financing Fund).
Registration for the three selection processes takes place in different periods, one followed by the other, in this chronological order: Sisu, Prouni and Fies. See below.
1 – Content
Selection is made based on the average grades obtained in the exam, within the limit of available places for each course and type of competition. The majority of Sisu participants are formed by public institutions, such as universities and federal institutes.
The news is that the 2026 edition of Sisu will allow the use of scores from the last three editions of Enem – 2023, 2024 and 2025 – for the registration and classification of candidates.
To participate in the Sisu selection, the candidate cannot have completed the essay. It is also necessary to have completed high school, meaning that trainers cannot register in the system.
The selection process takes into account the social and economic profiles of candidates, as determined by the Quota Law.
In the last edition, 261,779 places were offered for 6,863 undergraduate courses in 124 institutions in all regions of the country.
2 – Prouni
To register for the Prouni selection processes, the student can use the Enem scores from the last two editions of the exam.
You must have obtained an average grade above 450 points in the five Enem tests and have scored above
Prouni offers full (100% free) and partial (50% of the course’s monthly fee) scholarships for undergraduate studies at private institutions.
The MEC carries out two selection processes for the program each year. The target audience is Brazilian students without a higher education degree.
In all selection processes, the candidate can choose to compete for scholarships intended for broad competition or for quotas for people with disabilities (PWD) and self-declared indigenous or black people.
To apply for the full scholarship, you must have a gross monthly family income of up to one and a half minimum wages per person. For the partial scholarship, the gross monthly family income must be up to three minimum wages per person.
See here other conditions for candidates, such as having completed high school at a public school or having been on a scholarship at a private school.
3 – Fies
Enem grades can also be used to compete for places offered for higher education by the Student Financing Fund (Fies), which allows low-income students to attend private colleges through financing, which begins to be charged after completing the course.
To participate, the student must have taken the Enem, any edition since 2010, obtained an average grade above 450 points and not have completed the essay to zero.
Since 2024, Fies has reserved vacancies for self-declared black, indigenous and quilombola candidates, as well as for people with disabilities (PCDs).
To participate, you must have a gross monthly family income per person of up to three minimum wages. The new modality of the program, Fies Social, reserves half of the places for students with a family income per person of up to half the minimum wage and registered in the federal government’s Single Registry for Social Programs (CadÚnico), in an active situation.
More than 112 thousand places were offered, in two Fies selection processes in 2025. The first, for courses that started in the first semester, and the second, for classes that started in the second semester.
4 – Enem Portugal
The grades of Brazilian students can also be used in selection processes at higher education institutions in Portugal that have an agreement with Inep to accept the exam grades.
The agreements guarantee facilitated access by Portuguese universities, polytechnic institutes and higher schools to the grades of students interested in pursuing higher education in Portugal. However, the agreements do not involve the transfer of resources and do not provide for student financing by the Brazilian government.
Currently, 26 educational entities in Portugal have agreements with the Institute. Among them are the Polytechnic Institute of Coimbra, the Universidade Nova de Lisboa and the Portuguese Institute of Marketing Administration, in Porto.
Portuguese higher education institutions that accept Enem grades and the validity of each agreement.
5 – Other selections
Individual Enem results can also be used as a sole or complementary criterion in specific selection processes carried out by each higher education institution, whether public or private in Brazil. The strategy that allows direct entry replaces or complements the traditional entrance exam.
High school certification
This year’s Enem test will again allow the tests to be used to obtain certification of secondary school completion and partial declaration of proficiency in the teaching stage. This possibility from Enem had been discontinued in 2017.
The participant must meet the following specific requirements:
- be at least 18 years old on the date of the first test of each edition of the exam;
- achieve the minimum score in each area of knowledge (equal to or greater than 450 points), according to the basic performance standard defined by Inep;
- achieve at least 500 points in the essay.
During the period in which Enem did not offer this function, Encceja (National Examination for Certification of Competences of Young People and Adults) remained the main certification tool for the
Trainers
The exam is also used for training-type candidates, who generally have not completed high school or are not studying, to test their knowledge.
In this case, as the purpose of the exam is self-assessment, the Enem score is not used for entry into higher education in Brazil or Portugal.
However, it can be useful for the trainer to know the test format, test time management, identify areas of knowledge that need to be improved in studies.
It is also worth mentioning that the results (grades) of the trainees are released at a later date than that of the regular candidates (generally around 60 days later).
One
The Enem (National High School Exam) was established in 1998.
Participants take tests in four areas of knowledge: languages, codes and their technologies; human sciences and their technologies; natural sciences and their technologies; and mathematics and its technologies which, in total, total 180 objective questions.
Participants are also assessed through an essay, which requires the development of a dissertation-argumentative text, based on a problem.
To find out more about the exam, with answers to the most frequently asked questions.
Enem 2025: CNN Brasil broadcasts live with test correction in real time
Enem 2025 is coming and you can follow the unofficial live correction of the exam on CNN Brasil.
On the two Sundays of the test, on November 9th and 16thstarting at 8pm, Objective teachers will be in our studios for a live broadcast to resolve questions, analyze and comment.
