Enem 2026: 10 tips for effective exam preparation

With more than 5 million confirmed registrations, the National Upper Secondary Education Examination (Enem) 2026 will take place nationwide on 8 and 15 November. The total released by the Ministry of Education (MEC) and the Anísio Teixeira National Institute for Educational Studies and Research (Inep) is 5.08% higher than in the previous edition, which had 4.81 million candidates, and is the largest number of registrations recorded since 2022.

In the examination, candidates will answer 180 multiple-choice questions across Humanities, Natural Sciences, Languages and Mathematics, as well as completing a discursive-argumentative essay. With roughly three months remaining until the exam, students’ main priority is to establish where to focus in order to achieve their best performance.

According to Eduardo Jupi Belido Valério, Mathematics teacher at Colégio Integrado in Campo Mourão, Paraná, this is not the time to take on unfamiliar topics. Instead, students should strengthen the knowledge they have already gained through intensive practice. “The guidance is to choose exercise-solving and, as difficulties arise, go back and review the specific content,” he says.

The teacher identifies maintaining a consistent daily study routine as the decisive factor in achieving a competitive score.

Managing anxiety and mental rest

For those balancing work and study, making the most of available time becomes the greatest challenge. “In extreme cases, the recommendation is to plan for at least 5 hours 30 minutes of sleep and around 2 hours 30 minutes of preparation spread across the day and evening,” the teacher advises.

Emotional balance also has an important role at this stage. Eduardo Jupi Belido Valério stresses that cognitive fatigue must be offset by breaks and attention to physical health, noting that rest is essential for efficiency and academic performance.

“Physical activities, music and theatre help people unwind and manage anxiety, which often affects even the best-prepared students. Ideally, on the day before the exam, candidates should avoid studying - at most, do a quick reminder - and instead seek distraction and trust all the work done throughout the year,” the teacher recommends.

Essential guidance for Enem 2026 preparation

To help students shape their daily routine, the Colégio Integrado specialist sets out ten essential practices:

1. Create a study plan: organise subjects across the week;
2. Maintain daily consistency: establish a day-to-day routine to consolidate learning;
3. Identify and strengthen weak areas: recognise the subjects that cause the greatest difficulty and devote more time to them;
4. Read current affairs regularly: follow news on prominent issues to broaden the repertoire available for the essay;
5. Write frequently: produce at least three discursive-argumentative texts each week;
6. Practise answering questions: concentrate on question practice, particularly for the mathematics and sciences paper;
7. Recreate real examination conditions: complete mock exams every 15 days, strictly following the time limit and number of questions in the test;
8. Look after nutrition: maintain a balanced diet to sustain physical and mental energy;
9. Protect sleep quality: allow sufficient rest to ensure memory consolidation;
10. Set aside leisure time: keep a hobby to ease the tiredness built up during the routine.

Strategic tips for the Enem Mathematics exam

Enem mathematics and science questions are usually lengthy and demand close attention to interpretation. The teacher explains that the key to optimising time and improving the success rate is mastering core content, and highlights four further important points:

• Focus on basic mathematics: most questions do not require lengthy or complex calculations. The key lies in essential tools: command of calculation techniques, percentages, the rule of three and graph interpretation;
• Use a solving strategy and manage time: prioritise questions you feel more confident about, leaving the more complex and time-consuming ones until last. Secure the more accessible marks first;
• Prioritise the most frequent topics: focus revision on the subjects most commonly tested in recent Enem editions, such as Plane and Solid Geometry, Percentages, Combinatorial Analysis and Probability;
• Organise the question visually: when reading a long question, underline and note down the data provided. Turn the wording into a visual representation, such as a drawing or diagram, to make the problem easier to interpret.

“With these study measures, the chances of achieving a higher score in Enem increase significantly,” Eduardo Jupi Belido Valério concludes.

By Marlise Groth