More than 3.4 million of the 5.05 million eligible registered candidates attended the first day of the 2026 National High School Exam (Enem) in Brazil on November 8. Attendance was 68%. Brazil’s education minister, Leonardo Barchini, said the exam was administered without major problems.
Participants at 39 locations affected by power outages will be able to retake the exam, in accordance with the official notice. Most of these locations are in the state of Rio de Janeiro, which was hit by a storm with gale-force winds the previous day. Barchini also reported that 4,359 candidates were disqualified.
Absentees accounted for 32%, or about 1.6 million. The absentee rate was higher than the previous year’s, an increase that had been expected due to the expansion of automatic registration for public school students. A precise assessment will be released after the second day of testing, scheduled for November 15.
