422,905 students who failed one or two subjects can retake those subjects within a month

A major decision has been announced for students who failed one or two subjects in this year's HSC and equivalent examinations. A total of 422,905 such students will be given the chance to sit again, within one month, in only the subjects they failed.

With this opportunity, these students will not have to wait until next year's examinations. It opens a way out of the long-standing situation in which failing one or two subjects meant falling behind by almost a year.

Education Minister A N M Ehsanul Haque Milon inaugurated the HSC and equivalent result publication programme at an event at the Education Ministry in the Secretariat on Saturday (31 October). The minister and Mahdi Amin, the prime minister's adviser on education affairs, announced the information at the event.

The Education Ministry had earlier spoken of an initiative to hold interim examinations for students who failed this year's HSC and equivalent exams, so the results-day announcement follows on from that initiative.

A report published on 22 October said the government planned to complete the full process, including examinations and results, within two months for students who failed two subjects, and within three months for those who failed three or more subjects.

At that time, Professor Syed Akhtaruzzaman, chair of the Inter-Education Board Coordination Committee and chairman of the Dhaka Education Board, said re-scrutiny work would run for one month after the results. After the re-scrutiny results, an exam routine would be issued, followed by the examinations, script evaluation and publication of results.

Professor Akhtaruzzaman also said the whole process could be completed within two months for two subjects, but could take up to three months if examinations were held in three or more subjects. The final decision on how many subjects would be covered would be taken by the Education Ministry.

Normally, in public examinations such as the SSC and HSC, a student who fails one or more subjects must sit the examination again the following year, with the option of retaking only the failed subjects or all subjects.

Even failing one or two subjects has meant waiting almost a year, which, the report noted, not only sets students back in their education but also creates mental pressure.

Mahdi Amin, the prime minister's education adviser, had spoken of changing this situation before. On 10 October, at the 'Challenged Students Conference-2026' in Agargaon in the capital, he said failed students would be given a fresh examination opportunity within three months rather than being made to wait a year.

According to education board sources, this year's HSC and equivalent examinations began on 2 July under the country's 11 education boards. The written examinations ended on 8 August and the practical examinations on 15 August.

There were 1,270,583 candidates in total this year, with 2,697 examination centres and 9,439 participating institutions. After the results announcement, the next step will be the preparation and routine for the fresh examinations for the 422,905 students who failed one or two subjects.