HSC pass rate hits 22-year low, over 5 lakh fail

The pass rate in this year's Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) examinations fell to a 22-year low, with more than five lakh students failing under the nine general education boards.

The pass rate stood at 51.62 percent, down from 57.12 percent last year, according to results published on Saturday.

An analysis of historical data from the Bangladesh Bureau of Educational Information and Statistics (BANBEIS) shows that the last time the pass rate was lower than this year was in 2004, when it stood at 47.73 percent. It rose to 59.16 percent the following year.

This year, 5,07,281 of the 10,48,530 examinees under the nine general education boards failed, compared with 4,49,076 last year.

The number of unsuccessful candidates was the highest in the available BANBEIS data series for the general boards, which dates back to 1990.

Across all 11 education boards, including the Madrasa and Technical education boards, 5,94,113 students failed, up from 5,08,701 last year. The combined pass rate stood at 52.12 percent, compared with 58.83 percent in 2025.

The number of students securing GPA-5, the highest grade, also fell to an eight-year low.

A total of 40,084 students achieved GPA-5 across all 11 boards this year, compared with 69,097 last year. The figure was 47,286 in 2019 and 29,262 in 2018.

Education Minister ANM Ehsanul Hoque Milon acknowledged that the overall results were unsatisfactory, saying the government would take steps to address students' learning gaps.