The purpose of this article is to assess the nature, characteristics, and results of the Social Sciences Exam in secondary school. This article evaluates the Exam’s consonances and dissonances with the curricular proposals presented in basic educational standards of citizenship and social sciences, published in 2002 and 2004. The methodology I used is a documentary style analysis of the social sciences curriculum. The documents reviewed were read and recorded on cards with information such as title, nature of the text, origin, date of production, content and orientation. During the investigation, it was possible to establish the shift that occurred from a test that focused mainly on the memorization of contents, to one in which the development of competences was given priority. However, criticism arose concerning the exam’s emphasis from content memorization to skills and knowledge as evaluated in the PISA report. From the perspective of some actors, such as the Teacher’s Union, multilateral organizations support a neoliberal model that leads to poverty and inequality.