The National Teacher Examination, known by its Portuguese acronym PND, can be used by Brazilian states, the Federal District and municipalities to select teachers for public school systems, but it does not turn hiring into a single nationwide process. Each government entity that adopts the score must organize its own selection process, publish a notice and explain how the PND result will be used. For candidates, the practical rule is simple: taking the PND does not automatically register you for a local civil service exam or hiring process.
In 2026, the PND will be administered on September 20, with final results scheduled for December 15. According to Inep, the overall score ranges from 0 to 100 points, with 80% coming from the objective section and 20% from the written-response question. The 2026 edition covers 21 teaching degree areas. These details explain the national exam itself, but whether the score applies to a specific vacancy depends on the notice issued by the relevant school system. Inep describes the PND 2026 structure and schedule on its official website.
What states and municipalities can do with a PND score
Inep states that the PND may be used in public civil service examinations, simplified hiring processes and other selection formats, provided that its use is established in the official notice or regulations. The hiring authority must clearly state how the score will count.
| Situation | How the PND may be used | What candidates should check |
|---|---|---|
| Allowed | As a ranking criterion that determines the order of candidates. | Whether ranking is based only on the PND score or on a combination with other stages. |
| Allowed | As an elimination criterion, with a minimum score set by the hiring authority. | The minimum score and whether different rules apply by position, subject area or hiring format. |
| Allowed | As both an elimination and ranking criterion. | How the cutoff works and how candidates who pass it will be ranked. |
| Depends on the notice | To replace a local theoretical test or to serve as one stage among several. | Whether there will be a practical test, interview, credentials review or another additional stage. |
| Does not replace | The selection process organized by the state or municipality. | Deadlines, eligibility requirements, documents, separate registration and all other local rules. |
In its PND frequently asked questions, Inep explains that a school system may use the result for ranking, elimination, or both. The same guidance says the notice may use the PND as a single stage or combine it with practical tests, interviews and credentials review. These rules are summarized in Inep's official PND FAQ.
The PND does not replace the local notice
Even when an education department decides to use the PND score, it remains responsible for opening and regulating its own selection process. The local notice must state the vacancies or opportunities, positions or functions, entry requirements, deadlines, required documents and the way the PND score will be applied.
Inep's guidance explicitly says that the PND does not replace the government entity's selection process. States and municipalities must publish their own notices stating that the national score will be used. Inep also makes clear that registration for the PND does not replace registration for the local selection process. The official guidance describes the steps for adopting and using the PND.
This creates two separate tasks for candidates. The first is to take the PND and obtain a result. The second is to find the notice issued by the school system where they want to work and complete every required procedure, including a separate application whenever the notice requires one.
What it means when the PND is the single assessment stage
When a notice treats the PND as the single assessment stage, the national score can concentrate the knowledge assessment used by that school system. In a simplified hiring process, for example, the authority may determine that candidates will be ranked directly by their PND scores, provided that local law and the notice allow that design.
Even in this situation, a single assessment stage does not automatically eliminate every other requirement. The school system may still impose document checks, professional qualification requirements, tie-breaking rules and appointment procedures. Local law may also require an additional stage.
When practical tests, interviews or credentials review may still be required
The format varies by notice. Inep cites practical tests, interviews and credentials review as examples of stages that can be combined with the PND. As a result, two school systems can use the same edition of the national exam while running different selection processes.
- Practical test: may be used to assess performance in an activity defined by the hiring authority.
- Interview: may be included as an additional stage when the process rules provide for it.
- Credentials review: may award points for academic qualifications or other credentials accepted by the notice.
- Other requirements: documents, legal eligibility conditions, tie-breaking criteria and appointment procedures remain locally defined.
For that reason, it is not enough to ask whether a state or municipality has adopted the PND. Candidates need to check exactly how the score will be used in the specific notice they plan to enter.
For a public teaching career examination, credentials remain relevant
There is an important difference between a simplified hiring process and a public civil service examination for entry into the teaching career. Article 67, item I, of Brazil's National Education Guidelines and Framework Law requires entry into the public teaching career through a public examination involving tests and credentials. The current text of the law is available on Brazil's official legislation portal.
In practical terms, adopting the PND does not remove the need to observe the credentials stage when the process is the public examination covered by that law. The PND can serve as the knowledge assessment within the competition, while the credentials stage remains subject to the applicable rules. The weight, scoring method and accepted documents must be checked in the notice.
The PND is not a professional teaching certificate
Another important limit is that the PND is not a professional certification. Inep describes it as an examination whose results may be used by public school systems in their selection processes. The qualifications required for each position or function continue to depend on education rules and the requirements set out in the notice.
There is also no centralized hiring process in which a person takes the PND and automatically competes for positions in every participating school system. Each system keeps its own process and selection criteria.
Checklist to determine whether your PND score will be useful
- Confirm that the state or municipality has adopted the PND for the selection process you want to enter.
- Open the local notice and find the section explaining how the score will be used.
- Check whether the PND is for ranking, elimination, or both.
- Find out whether there is a minimum required score.
- Check for a practical test, interview, credentials review or another stage.
- Read the education and documentation requirements for the position.
- Apply to the local process by its deadline even if you are already registered for the PND.
- Check the dates for results, appeals, appointment calls and document submission.
The key point for candidates in 2026
The PND creates a national score that public school systems can reuse, reducing the need for candidates to sit similar theoretical tests in different selections. But the real effect of that score is defined by each hiring notice. That is where candidates will find the weight of the PND, any minimum score, additional stages and the conditions for competing for a position.
For the 2026 PND, the examination takes place on September 20 and final results are scheduled for December 15. Anyone hoping to use that score in public examinations or hiring processes should follow the notices issued by the states and municipalities of interest at the same time and should not treat registration for the national exam as a substitute for local registration.
