HSC pass rate 52.12 percent: most failures in English and ICT, failed subjects can be re-sat within one to two months

In this year's HSC and equivalent examinations, 646,685 candidates passed out of 1,240,798 examinees. The pass rate is 52.12 percent. Last year the pass rate was 58.83 percent.

This year, 43,528 students failed in English at the higher secondary level and 138,493 failed in ICT. A review of the results says these two subjects are what pulled the pass rate down.

The last time the pass rate was lower was in 2004, when the HSC and equivalent pass rate was 47.74 percent. The rate has not fallen this low since then.

The education minister has announced a new decision for unsuccessful candidates. According to his announcement, failed candidates will be able to re-sit, within one to two months, exactly the subjects they failed. The review says this new addition will reduce the time and mental distress of unsuccessful students and the pressure on parents.

The long-term picture of the results shows large fluctuations. An analysis of HSC results from 1990 to 2025 shows the lowest pass rate in that period was 24.77 percent in 1996. In 2020, during the coronavirus period, the pass rate was 100 percent when all candidates were declared passed through assessment without examinations.

In 2024, the average pass rate in the HSC examinations of the nine general boards was 75.56 percent. In 2025 it fell to 57.12 percent. The pass rate dropped by about 18 percentage points in the space of a year.

The review says the type of examination questions, the marking of answer scripts, students' preparation, the ability to complete the syllabus and the assessment method all affect the results. It cannot be said with certainty, from pass-rate statistics alone, how much each factor contributed.

The education minister said the questions were revised three times this year. The review also notes that the assessment system is gradually moving towards quality in question setting, answer-script marking and the publication of results.

The review says many science students do not want to study Bangla and English or attend those classes. They prepare according to suggestions in market guidebooks and suggestions from private tutors or coaching centres. Many also lack the habit of writing the written items — paragraphs, letters or applications — themselves.

For most arts and commerce students, English is the deciding factor in passing or failing. Because they are weak in the subject, they fail more often, and the review says the same happened this year. It adds that if students attended English classes properly and studied the specified chapters with understanding, there would be no reason to fail in English.

On failures in ICT, the review raised the issue of a teacher shortage. It says that although it is possible to pass using help books, students' neglect is why failures are higher in these two subjects.

In board-wise results, the Dhaka Board is at the top in pass rate. The Barisal Board is at the bottom with a pass rate of 44 percent.

The review concludes that in this age of globalisation, everyone, whatever subject they study, must acquire skills in English and ICT. That a large share of students heading for higher education have failed in these two subjects is a signal whose meaning must be understood.