The pass rate in this year’s Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) examinations under the Chattogram Education Board fell to 52.07 per cent, while the number of students securing the highest grade, GPA-5, dropped by more than half compared with last year.
According to results released by the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Chattogram, on Saturday, 2,929 students achieved GPA-5 this year, down from 6,097 in 2025. The pass rate declined by 0.50 percentage points from 52.57 per cent last year.
Board statistics show that 99,879 students registered for the examinations this year. Of them, 96,335 sat the exams, while 3,544 were absent.
In 2025, a total of 1,02,790 students registered, of whom 1,01,888 appeared for the examinations.
The number of expelled candidates fell to 27 from 38 last year. The board withheld the result of one candidate in each of the two years following official decisions.
Science students recorded the highest pass rate among the three streams at 74.42 per cent, followed by Business Studies at 54.14 per cent and Humanities at 38.36 per cent.
The Science pass rate declined from last year, while Humanities and Business Studies also recorded changes in performance.
A district-wise breakdown showed that students in Chattogram metropolitan area performed better than those elsewhere under the board, although the city’s pass rate fell to 66.20 per cent from 70.90 per cent last year.
Outside the metropolitan area, the pass rate in Chattogram district rose to 45.59 per cent from 43.63 per cent in 2025.
Including the metropolitan area, Chattogram district recorded an overall pass rate of 57.42 per cent, slightly below last year’s 57.93 per cent.
Among the other districts under the board, Cox’s Bazar recorded a pass rate of 43.34 per cent, followed by Bandarban at 41.42 per cent, Rangamati at 33.24 per cent and Khagrachhari at 29.85 per cent.
Institution-wise results also revealed mixed performance.
Three colleges recorded a zero per cent pass rate, compared with five last year. The number of institutions where every candidate passed declined to six from eight.
Meanwhile, 10 colleges with more than 10 examinees recorded pass rates of 10 per cent or lower, up from six such institutions last year.
The number of colleges with pass rates between 10 and 20 per cent fell to 27 from 42.
The results showed declines in the number of examinees, the overall pass rate and GPA-5 achievers, alongside weaker performance in Chattogram metropolitan area and a rise in the number of colleges with particularly low pass rates.
Explaining the results, Chattogram Education Board Controller of Examinations Professor Parvez Sajjad Chowdhury said the overall pass rate remained close to last year’s level.
He said examinations were conducted using uniform question papers and answer scripts were assessed under a standardised evaluation system.
He attributed the sharp decline in GPA-5 achievers to proper evaluation of answer scripts.
The controller also suggested that the installation of closed-circuit television cameras at every examination centre might have initially caused fear or anxiety among candidates during the first few examinations.
He said examinations had also been suspended for a period because of natural disasters, which might have disrupted students’ study routines.
Students may have needed time to resume their preparations after the interruption, he added.
