HSC Results Decline for Second Straight Year, Nearly 600,000 Students Fail

The pass rate in the Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) and equivalent examinations has declined for the second consecutive year. A total of 594,293 students failed this year’s examinations, up 85,592 from last year. The number of students achieving a GPA-5 has also fallen.

Education Minister Dr ANM Ehsanul Haque Milon announced the results at a press conference at the Secretariat on Saturday (October 31).

According to results published by the education boards, a total of 1,240,978 candidates took the examinations under the country’s nine general education boards, the Madrasah Education Board and the Technical Education Board. Of them, 646,685 passed, resulting in a pass rate of 52.12%. The remaining 594,293 failed in one or more subjects.

Last year, 1,235,661 candidates sat for the HSC and equivalent examinations, of whom 726,960 passed. The pass rate was 58.83%, while 508,701 candidates failed. This means the pass rate fell by 6.71 percentage points in one year.

In 2024, the pass rate in the HSC and equivalent examinations was 77.78%. Over the past two years, it has therefore dropped by 25.66 percentage points. The continued decline has raised fresh questions about the quality of education, students’ preparation and the standard of teaching in educational institutions.

Following the poor results in 2025, education stakeholders cited an unstable academic environment, teacher shortages, concerns over teachers’ salaries and benefits, inadequate investment in education, and students’ weak academic preparation as possible reasons. The further decline this year has raised questions about the effectiveness of measures taken to address the problems identified last year.

This year’s results show that male students had a lower pass rate than female students. The pass rate was 47.75% for male students and 56.31% for female students. Across all education boards, 66,371 more female students passed than male students.

Institution-level results are also concerning. No student passed from 204 educational institutions this year, compared with 202 last year. Meanwhile, all candidates passed at 202 institutions this year.

The number of students achieving a GPA-5 has also declined steadily alongside the pass rate. In 2024, 145,911 students achieved a GPA-5. The figure fell to 69,097 in 2025 and dropped further to 40,084 this year. This represents a decline of 105,827 in the number of students achieving the highest grade over the two-year period since 2024.