National Portuguese Exam (2026)

Reliability

npe recognizes that test reliability is defined as the degree to which the test gives consistent results each time it is given.

In other words, reliability answers the following questions:

  1. Can I depend on the test to measure the same outcomes consistently?
  2. Given all the other variables being the same, will the test produce the same results again?

npe uses the Kuder-Richardson 21 formula to calculate reliability coefficients:

r (reliability) = (K)(SD2)-M(K-M)(SD2)(K-1)

K = the number of items in the list
SD = the standard deviation of the scores
M = the mean of the scores

The scores of reliability are judged against a perfect score of 1.00. The closer the reliability coefficient is to 1.00, the better it is. The relationship between variables is commonly considered strong over .7. Most standardized tests usually have a reliability coefficient of .90 or above.1

Reliability Coefficients

for the National Portuguese Exam (2026)

Population Size Number of Questions (K) Mean Score (M) Standard Deviation (SD) Reliability Coefficient (r)
Level Name Category Name Exam Part
Level 1 Bilingual Content (Grammar) 24.0 20.0 16.000000 3.122499 0.707152
Content (Vocabulary) 24.0 20.0 18.875000 2.420615 0.861895
Performance (Listening) 24.0 11.0 23.916667 3.999132 1.000000
Performance (Reading) 24.0 14.0 30.708333 6.477391 1.000000
Total 24.0 65.0 89.500000 14.739403 1.000000
Classroom Experience Content (Grammar) 102.0 20.0 13.862745 4.288697 0.809176
Content (Vocabulary) 102.0 20.0 15.362745 3.960068 0.813536
Performance (Listening) 102.0 11.0 19.411765 5.485012 1.000000
Performance (Reading) 102.0 14.0 27.676471 6.680615 1.000000
Total 102.0 65.0 76.313725 18.367160 1.000000
Outside Experience Content (Grammar) 21.0 20.0 12.761905 3.279151 0.600502
Content (Vocabulary) 21.0 20.0 15.952381 3.169440 0.714328
Performance (Listening) 21.0 11.0 20.428571 4.237828 1.000000
Performance (Reading) 21.0 14.0 27.190476 6.987193 1.000000
Total 21.0 65.0 76.333333 14.610281 1.000000
Level 2 Bilingual Content (Grammar) 38.0 20.0 17.657895 1.781134 0.366514
Content (Vocabulary) 38.0 20.0 17.921053 1.383770 0.028571
Performance (Listening) 37.0 11.0 23.189189 2.037988 1.000000
Performance (Reading) 38.0 14.0 29.105263 4.756101 1.000000
Total 38.0 65.0 87.263158 8.181121 1.000000
Classroom Experience Content (Grammar) 84.0 20.0 12.547619 4.181606 0.771172
Content (Vocabulary) 84.0 20.0 13.500000 4.221543 0.793482
Performance (Listening) 83.0 11.0 17.409639 4.628451 1.000000
Performance (Reading) 83.0 14.0 22.216867 7.415464 1.000000
Total 84.0 65.0 65.202381 18.291150 1.000000
Outside Experience Content (Grammar) 29.0 20.0 15.724138 2.362006 0.418360
Content (Vocabulary) 29.0 20.0 16.793103 2.171593 0.451589
Performance (Listening) 29.0 11.0 21.931034 2.790761 1.000000
Performance (Reading) 29.0 14.0 27.586207 4.327277 1.000000
Total 29.0 65.0 82.034483 8.560063 1.000000
Level 3 Bilingual Content (Grammar) 23.0 20.0 15.739130 3.286565 0.725863
Content (Vocabulary) 23.0 20.0 18.260870 2.004720 0.636728
Performance (Listening) 23.0 11.0 23.130435 3.082974 1.000000
Performance (Reading) 23.0 14.0 25.782609 7.972543 1.000000
Total 23.0 65.0 82.913043 13.383679 1.000000
Classroom Experience Content (Grammar) 57.0 20.0 11.421053 3.438417 0.616448
Content (Vocabulary) 56.0 20.0 14.035714 4.200188 0.802884
Performance (Listening) 57.0 11.0 17.771930 4.580728 1.000000
Performance (Reading) 57.0 14.0 23.157895 6.735060 1.000000
Total 57.0 65.0 66.140351 15.397013 1.000000
Outside Experience Content (Grammar) 13.0 20.0 12.846154 2.567434 0.318860
Content (Vocabulary) 13.0 20.0 16.307692 2.461538 0.529605
Performance (Listening) 13.0 11.0 22.384615 2.558198 1.000000
Performance (Reading) 13.0 14.0 26.692308 4.729362 1.000000
Total 13.0 65.0 78.230769 9.283185 1.000000
Level 4 Bilingual Content (Grammar) 19.0 20.0 17.473684 2.457393 0.667890
Content (Vocabulary) 19.0 20.0 18.421053 1.566619 0.428894
Performance (Listening) 19.0 11.0 23.789474 1.734448 1.000000
Performance (Reading) 19.0 14.0 29.473684 3.393002 1.000000
Total 19.0 65.0 89.157895 5.254203 1.000000
Classroom Experience Content (Grammar) 45.0 20.0 11.000000 4.027682 0.731435
Content (Vocabulary) 45.0 20.0 13.444444 4.833014 0.854039
Performance (Listening) 45.0 11.0 18.111111 5.449657 1.000000
Performance (Reading) 45.0 14.0 22.688889 7.185857 1.000000
Total 45.0 65.0 65.244444 17.288603 1.000000
Outside Experience Content (Grammar) 24.0 20.0 13.916667 3.200477 0.617627
Content (Vocabulary) 24.0 20.0 15.458333 2.971800 0.634238
Performance (Listening) 24.0 11.0 23.375000 2.306016 1.000000
Performance (Reading) 24.0 14.0 25.416667 5.529592 1.000000
Total 24.0 65.0 78.166667 12.030055 1.000000
Level 5 Classroom Experience Content (Grammar) 4.0 20.0 7.500000 1.500000 0.000000
Content (Vocabulary) 4.0 20.0 9.750000 1.785357 0.000000
Performance (Listening) 4.0 11.0 11.750000 2.680951 1.000000
Performance (Reading) 4.0 14.0 21.500000 4.500000 1.000000
Total 4.0 65.0 50.500000 6.837397 0.770889

1John A. Kaufhold, Basic Statistics for Educational Research (New York: iUniverse, Inc., 2007) pp. 43-46.