Provas Nacionais Matemática A Preparation: A Guide for Bilingual Families in Portugal

If your child studies at a Portuguese school, two math exams shape their path: the 9.º ano final test and the 12.º ano Matemática A national exam. Here is what each involves, based on official EduQA and DGES information, and how a bilingual math tutor in Portugal can help a Russian-speaking child prepare.

The Portuguese math exams at a glance

Portugal assesses math externally at several points, and the exams are written by EduQA, the national assessment agency that took over from IAVE. Only two of them carry real weight for your child's grades and future: the 9.º ano final test and the 12.º ano Matemática A national exam.

The 9.º ano math exam in 2025/2026

The format has changed several times recently, so the names can be confusing. According to EduQA's general exam information for 2025/2026, the ModA monitoring tests now apply only to 4.º and 6.º ano. In 9.º ano, every student sits a compulsory prova final do ensino básico.

• Hybrid format: questions appear on screen, while written working is done by hand on answer sheets that are scanned later.
• Time: 90 minutes plus a 30-minute tolerance.
• Marks: 100 points, converted to the 1-5 level scale.
• Weight: 30% of the final 9.º ano math grade.
• Topics: Números, Álgebra, Dados e Probabilidades and Geometria, including material from earlier years. A formula sheet and a trigonometric table are provided.

Provas Nacionais Matemática A preparation: what the 635 exam looks like

Matemática A is taken by students on the science and socioeconomic tracks. It is a 150-minute paper exam (plus 30 minutes tolerance) marked out of 200. Core topics are Geometria, Funções, Estatística, Probabilidades, Cálculo Combinatório, Sucessões and Números complexos. Because two versions of the curriculum (2018 and 2023) are currently in use, the paper contains three pairs of alternative questions and the student answers one from each pair. In 2026, three optional 2023 topics (inference, integrals and matrices) were exceptionally excluded, so always check the new Informação-Prova published each autumn.

Some questions always count; from the remaining group, only the student's best-scoring answers are added. That softens the impact of one bad question, but it still rewards finishing the whole paper.

How Matemática A affects university entry

For the concurso nacional de acesso, Matemática A works as a prova de ingresso. According to DGES:

• each university sets one to three entrance exams per degree;
• the minimum score on an entrance exam is at least 95 out of 200, and universities may set it higher;
• the application score weighs the secondary school average at no less than 40% and entrance exams at no less than 45%.

Non-EU families should check early whether their child applies through the national contest or under international student status. DGES states that the national contest is open to non-EU nationals who, by 1 January of the application year, have lived legally in Portugal for more than two uninterrupted years.

Matemática B (735, arts track) and MACS (835, humanities track) are 11.º ano exams, also 150 minutes and out of 200. They do not replace Matemática A where a degree requires it, so the track chosen in 10.º ano matters.

Exam calendar and phases

Exams run in two phases: the 1.ª fase in June and the 2.ª fase in July. The next year's dates are set by an official order (the 2026 calendar was published in December 2025). For reference, 2026 dates were:

Why the language gets in the way

Many children who were strong in math at a Russian-language school lose marks in Portugal for reasons that have little to do with math:

• Command words: determine, mostre que, justifique, apresente o resultado arredondado às décimas. Each one implies a different amount of written justification.
• Notation: sen x instead of sin x, intervals written as ]a, b[, and the decimal comma.
• Vocabulary: sucessão (sequence), função afim (linear function), taxa média de variação (average rate of change), acontecimento (event in probability).
• Presentation: examiners expect clear intermediate steps and a conclusion in Portuguese, not just a number.

In a free diagnostic session, we find out in 30 minutes whether the gap is in the math itself or in reading Portuguese questions, and show you a concrete plan.

A preparation plan that works

1. September to November: diagnose, fill gaps from earlier years, build a bilingual glossary.
2. December to February: work through the syllabus with problems solved and justified in Portuguese.
3. March to April: past papers from the EduQA archive, marked against official criteria.
4. May to June: timed mock exams, error review, and practice choosing between alternative questions.

For Matemática A, start structured work in 11.º ano: much of the 635 exam builds on 10.º and 11.º ano content.

A bilingual math tutor in Portugal: the Bridge method

Genius Math School is an online school for Russian-speaking children in international and foreign schools, and Provas Nacionais (9.º and 12.º ano) is one of our core programs. As a Russian speaking math tutor team working with Portugal, we use the Bridge method, which moves in four stages: the topic is explained in Russian, Portuguese terminology is introduced step by step, the student solves problems in Portuguese, and finally lessons run fully in Portuguese.

Every lesson is one-to-one, online, 60 minutes, on an interactive whiteboard, with homework after each session. A curator builds the plan, tracks progress and sends parents a monthly report in Russian. Most of our teachers graduated from Saint Petersburg State University's mathematics and mechanics faculty, and many live abroad and use Portuguese or English every day. Plans start from $52 per lesson on a semester basis. Considering other routes too? See our guides to IB Math and SAT Math.

Our free 30-minute diagnostic session identifies your child's level, Bridge stage and the right exam goal.

The sooner you know where your child really stands, the calmer the exam year will be. Book a free diagnostic session and leave with a clear, realistic plan for Provas Nacionais.

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