The Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) and equivalent examinations for 2025 begins Thursday, morning with 1,251,111 students from 11 education boards across the country set to take part.
The exams commence at 10 am with the Bangla First Paper. Written exams for the nine general education boards and the Madrasa board will continue until August 10, while practical exams are scheduled from August 11 to 28.
Under the Technical Education Board, theoretical exams for HSC Vocational and Diploma-in-Commerce programs will end on July 17, followed by practicals from July 18 to 24.
The 2025 HSC exams are being held under the shortened or reorganized syllabus of 2023. Education boards have confirmed that this year’s exams will follow the full marks and full duration format.
Among the candidates, 618,015 are male and 633,096 are female. They will appear for the exams in 2,797 centers, representing 9,314 institutions nationwide. Compared to last year, this year’s total number of candidates has dropped by 81,882.
Due to the recent rise in COVID-19 and dengue cases, the Inter-Education Board Coordination Committee has issued strict health guidelines.
Professor S. M. Kamal Uddin Hayder, convener of the Examination Controllers’ Committee and controller at the Dhaka Board, stated that wearing masks will be mandatory for all students when entering exam centers. Hand sanitizers will be placed at entry points, and exam venues must be kept clean to prevent mosquito breeding.
Traditionally, the HSC exams were held in early April, but the schedule changed due to the pandemic. In 2020, exams were canceled entirely, and students were awarded certificates without examination. In 2021 and 2022, exams were conducted with a shortened syllabus due to COVID-19 disruptions.
According to the Press Information Department, students must enter the exam centers at least 30 minutes before the start of the test.
Latecomers will not be allowed to enter unless there’s an unavoidable reason, in which case their name, roll number, entry time, and cause of delay must be recorded and reported to the center in-charge and the relevant board daily. In case of delays due to natural disasters, extra time equal to the delay will be given to the affected students.
Professor Hayder also emphasized that arrangements have been made to ensure seating with a three-foot gap between examinees. Each room will have two invigilators, and there will be one invigilator per 20 students.
To ensure a fair and copying-free exam environment, the Ministry of Education has ordered all coaching centers to remain closed until August 15.
The Ministry of Education’s Secondary and Higher Education Division, along with the Dhaka Education Board, has also opened a control room to monitor the examination process.