Over Half a Million Students Fail HSC, Equivalent Exams

More than half a million students have failed the Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) and equivalent examinations this year, marking a significant rise in the failure rate compared to last year, according to official results released on Thursday.

A total of 508,701 students failed to secure the minimum pass marks in the examinations, including 450,500 from the HSC stream alone. In comparison, 295,749 students failed in 2024 — indicating a worrying decline in overall performance.

The results were simultaneously announced across the country’s education boards at 10:00am, with Education Board officials releasing detailed statistics at respective offices.

At the Dhaka Education Board auditorium, Professor Khandakar Ehsanul Kabir, Chairman of the Dhaka Education Board and President of the Bangladesh Inter-Education Board Coordination Committee, formally unveiled the results and provided insights into the performance trends.

According to board data, a total of 1,235,661 candidates appeared for the HSC and equivalent examinations under 11 education boards this year, of which 726,960 passed — resulting in a pass rate of around 58.8 percent.

Last year, 1,231,058 students sat for the exams, and 1,035,309 passed, yielding a significantly higher pass rate of 84.1 percent. The sharp drop in the pass rate this year has drawn concern from education experts and parents alike.

Under the nine general education boards, 1,047,242 candidates took part in the HSC exams. Of them, 598,166 students passed, while 449,076 failed.

In the Alim (Madrasa) examinations, 82,809 candidates participated, and 62,609 passed, leaving 20,200 students unsuccessful.

Under the Technical Education Board, 105,610 students appeared for the exams, with 66,185 passing and 39,425 failing.

Education analysts attribute the fall in pass rates to multiple factors — including the reintroduction of full syllabi after several years of abridged curriculums during the COVID-19 pandemic, inconsistent class attendance, and a lack of adequate preparation among students.

Officials also pointed to the growing challenges of aligning secondary education outcomes with higher-level academic expectations, as well as disparities in school facilities across rural and urban areas.

Speaking after the results announcement, Professor Kabir said the boards had maintained strict monitoring to ensure fairness and transparency. “Every effort was made to ensure that evaluation processes were objective and error-free,” he noted, adding that the education boards would soon undertake a comprehensive review to identify the causes behind the sharp decline.

Parents and teachers have expressed deep concern over the outcome, urging authorities to focus on improving teaching standards, examination methods, and student counselling.

Education experts called for a nationwide discussion on reforming secondary and higher secondary curricula to better prepare students for university-level studies and employment.

This year’s poor performance, they say, should serve as a wake-up call for policymakers to address systemic gaps in teaching quality, student engagement, and academic assessment.