Bangladesh’s Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) and equivalent examinations recorded a nationwide pass rate of 52.12% in 2026, while the number of students achieving the highest grade fell sharply, according to results published on October 31.
The combined pass rate across the country’s 11 education boards dropped 6.71 percentage points from 58.83% in 2025. A total of 40,084 students secured a Grade Point Average (GPA) of 5, down from 69,097 last year, according to figures reported by the Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha and other news organisations.
The decline was particularly pronounced under the nine general education boards. Their combined pass rate stood at 51.62%, compared with 57.12% in 2025.
More than five lakh candidates fail under general boards
Of the 1,048,530 candidates who appeared under the nine general education boards, 541,249 passed. That left 507,281 candidates unsuccessful.
The Daily Star reported that the 51.62% pass rate was the lowest for the general education boards since 2004, when the figure stood at 47.73%, based on historical data from the Bangladesh Bureau of Educational Information and Statistics (BANBEIS).
The results also showed a substantial decline in the number of top-grade achievers. Across all 11 boards, the number of students receiving GPA-5 fell by 29,013, a reduction of about 42% from the previous year.
Female students outnumbered male students among those who passed. According to BSS, 356,528 female candidates passed, compared with 290,157 male candidates, across the examination system.
What the results mean for students
The figures raise important questions about students’ learning outcomes, examination preparation and the support available to candidates who do not pass.
The results alone, however, do not establish why performance declined. Further analysis of subject-level results, board-level differences, attendance, teaching conditions and changes in examination practices would be needed to identify the main contributing factors.
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