The results of the 2025 Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) and equivalent examinations, published on Thursday, showed a drastic fall in the overall pass rate to 58.83% across nine general education boards, the Madrasah Education Board, and the Technical Education Board.
Dhaka Education Board Chairman and Inter-Education Board Coordination Committee Chairman Prof Dr Khondokar Ehsanul Kabir announced the results at a press briefing, saying the overall success rate declined by 18.95 percentage points from last year’s 77.78%.
In 2023, the pass rate was 78.64%.
The number of GPA 5 achievers also saw a steep fall, dropping to 69,097 from last year’s 145,911 — a decrease of 76,814.
This year, a total of 1,235,661 students appeared in the examinations, of whom 726,960 passed.
Board-wise performance
The Madrasah Board led with a 75.61% pass rate this year, followed by the Technical Board at 62.67%, both outperforming most general boards.
Among the latter, Dhaka (64.62%) and Barisal (62.57%) fared relatively better, staying above the national average of 58.83%.
In contrast, Comilla recorded the lowest pass rate at 48.86%, while Jessore (50.20%), Mymensingh (51.54%), and Sylhet (51.86%) also struggled to cross the halfway mark.
Rajshahi stood at 59.40% and Dinajpur at 57.49%, hovering around the national average but reflecting significant declines compared to previous years.
Sylhet’s sharp fall—over 30 percentage points from last year—was among the steepest, underscoring the challenges of returning to a full syllabus after pandemic-era adjustments.
In contrast to last year, when 1,388 institutions achieved a 100% pass rate, this year only 345 institutions managed that feat. The number of institutions with zero pass rate also rose sharply to 202 from 65 in 2024.
Girls once again outshone boys both in pass rate and GPA 5 count.
Their overall pass rate stood at 62.97% compared to 54.60% for boys. Of the 69,097 GPA 5 achievers, 37,044 were girls and 32,053 were boys — a difference of 4,991.
A total of 508,701 students failed this year — including 450,500 from the general boards — compared to 295,749 last year.
In the Alim exams, 62,609 passed out of 82,809, while under the Technical Education Board, 66,185 passed out of 105,610.
Rajshahi Education Board recorded its lowest pass rate in seven years at 59.40%. Last year, the rate was 81.24%, while in previous years it was 78.46% (2023), 81.60% (2022), 97.29% (2021), 100% (2020), and 76.38% (2019).
Out of 134,143 candidates, 10,137 secured GPA 5, while one in four students failed.
The Sylhet Education Board witnessed one of the sharpest declines among all boards, with a pass rate of 51.86%, down by 33.53 percentage points from last year’s 85.39%. The number of GPA 5 achievers also dropped from 6,698 to 1,602.
Board Chairman Prof Anwar Hossain Chowdhury attributed the fall to the return to a full syllabus after five years.
Of the 69,172 students who appeared, 35,871 passed.
Science students had the best performance with a 75.95% pass rate, followed by business studies (50.18%) and humanities (45.59%). Girls’ pass rate stood at 53.13%, while boys’ was 49.46%. District-wise, Sylhet recorded 60.61%, followed by Habiganj (49.88%), Sunamganj (45.80%), and Moulvibazar (47.35%).
As many as 279 out of 291 students from eight overseas centres passed this year’s HSC examinations, achieving a 95.88% pass rate — the highest among all centres under the general boards.
Students dissatisfied with their results can apply for re-scrutiny from Friday to October 23 through https://rescrutiny.eduboardresults.gov.bd. The fee is Tk150 per paper, and payments can be made via bKash, Nagad, Sonali Seba, DBBL Rocket, or Teletalk SIM.
Applicants must use a valid mobile number to receive their re-scrutiny results via SMS.
Education adviser calls for change in result-centric culture
Adviser to the Education Ministry Prof Dr Chowdhury Rafiqul Abrar said the government wants public examination results to reflect the true state of education.
“Being a responsible adviser, I want the true picture of the education system to be reflected again,” he told reporters at the Secretariat after the results were released.
He said the crisis in the country’s education system had been hidden for years to show inflated success rates. “Now, we want the culture to be changed,” he added.
Congratulating successful students and encouraging others to persevere, he said: “Your hard work will never go in vain… your success is our pride.”
