Private schools stagnate in Ideb and reduce the gap with the public network

Data released this Wednesday (5) by the MEC (Ministry of Education) shows that the performance of private schools remains stagnant in the initial and final years of primary education and declined in secondary education, compared to the period before the pandemic, in 2019.

The average for public schools has increased and is higher than in 2019, although below the private network.

- Understand Ideb, which measures the quality of education in Brazil

While public schools continue to advance in the initial years of primary education and reached 6.1 in Ideb 2025, 0.4 points more than in the previous edition, the private network had a slight drop (0.1 point) and returned to the level it had in 2019, with an average of 7.1.

Thus, the distance between the two networks, which reached 1.4 points before the pandemic, was reduced to just 1 point at this stage.

In the final years, the private network also remains at the same level as in 2019, with an Ideb of 6.4. During this period, the public network went from 4.6 to 5.

In secondary education, private schools had a drop in the indicator, going from 6, in 2019, to 5.8, in 2025, 0.2 points less than in 2023. Public schools managed to advance in this period and went from an Ideb of 3.9 to 4.3.

Despite the reduction in the distance between the two networks, the difference remains quite significant. On average, at the end of the initial years, students in private schools have grades that represent almost two full years of learning more than those who study in the public network.

In mathematics, for example, the private network had an average of 253.73 points in 2025. In the public network, the average was 227.41. A difference of 26.36 points.

In Portuguese, the difference was 22 points - with an advantage for private schools.

A variation of 12 points in the average of the tests for these two subjects is considered relevant by scholars and represents the progression of an entire year of learning.

The difference in learning widens as the school progresses, reaching a difference of 42.22 points in mathematics, which represents more than three years of learning. In Portuguese, it was 30.83 points, equivalent to around 2.5 years.