The pass rate in this year’s Higher Secondary Certificate and equivalent examinations fell to 52.12 per cent, the lowest in 22 years, with 6,46,685 of 12,40,798 candidates passing under 11 education boards across the country.
The number of GPA-5 achievers, the highest grade, also dropped by 42 per cent to 40,084 from 69,097 in 2025.
The results, published at a press conference at the education ministry on Saturday, show that nearly half of the candidates have failed.
The pass rate was lower in the general and madrasah education boards last time in 2004, when 47.74 per cent of HSC and 40.64 per cent of Alim examinees passed. Under the Bangladesh Technical Education Board, the pass rate was lower in 2002, at 44.12 per cent.
– Most fail in English, ICT subjects
– Experts blame shortage of subject-specific teachers, learning gaps
– Students can retake exams in failed subjects within one to two months: minister
Experts have attributed the decline for the second consecutive year to poor performance in English and information and communication technology, compounded by an acute shortage of subject-specific teachers.
The average pass rate across the 11 boards fell by 6.71 percentage points from 58.83 per cent in 2025.
The Dhaka Education Board recorded the highest pass rate among the nine general education boards at 61.80 per cent, followed by Chattogram at 52.07 per cent, Mymensingh at 51.44 per cent, Sylhet at 50.90 per cent, Cumilla at 48.04 per cent, Dinajpur at 45.98 per cent, Rajshahi at 45.06 per cent, Jashore at 44.92 per cent and Barishal at 44.84 per cent while the Bangladesh Madrasah Education Board pass rate stood at 61.07 per cent and the Bangladesh Technical Education Board at 49.43 per cent.
A total of 35,948 candidates secured GPA-5 under nine general boards while 3,250 students got GPA-5 under the madrasah education board and 886 secured GPA-5 under in technical board.
Educationists and board officials attributed the poor results to persistent learning gaps, inadequate classroom teaching, shortages of qualified teachers and a mismatch between teaching methods and examination patterns.
Addressing the press conference, education minister ANM Ehsanul Hoque Milon acknowledged that the decline was undesirable, citing shortcomings in learning methods, parental support and the overall educational environment.
‘There are shortcomings in our learning methods, among parents and in the environment. We have to reassess all these shortcomings and address them. That is our responsibility,’ he said.
English and ICT emerged as major stumbling blocks, with 3,82,021 candidates failing in the two subjects combined—2,43,528 in English and 1,38,493 in ICT. English pass rates hovered around 50 per cent in most boards.
Dhaka recorded the highest pass rate in English at 73.62 per cent, followed by Sylhet at 65.84 per cent, Chattogram at 65.77 per cent and Cumilla at 64.83 per cent.
In ICT, Dhaka recorded the highest pass rate at 76.19 per cent, while Cumilla, Chattogram, Sylhet, Dinajpur and Mymensingh recorded rates in the 70 per cent range. Barishal, Jashore and Rajshahi recorded rates in the 60 per cent range, meaning around four in every 10 candidates failed.
Barishal students also performed poorly in logic and accounting, with pass rates of 67 per cent and 52 per cent respectively. Accounting pass rates in Rajshahi, Sylhet, Dinajpur and Mymensingh ranged from 50 to 60 per cent.
According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Educational Information and Statistics, 2,625 institutions have no English teachers. Of the 64,253 teachers currently teaching English, 51,360 do not have a bachelor’s, master’s or a higher degree in the subject.
Another 3,861 institutions have no ICT teachers while in many institutions, teachers from other disciplines, including Islamic studies, history and political science, conduct ICT classes amid lack of professional training.
Teachers cited subject-specific teacher shortages, inadequate salaries and benefits at private colleges, changes in examination arrangements and errors in question papers as other reasons for the poor results.
An ICT teacher at Government Science College, requesting anonymity, said that the institution had no officially recognised ICT teacher and that he and two other teachers conducted classes in the subject.
‘I completed my bachelor’s and master’s degrees in a science discipline, but I have received no specialised training in ICT. As a result, I sometimes face difficulties while teaching the subject in classrooms. This shortage needs to be addressed,’ he said.
A teacher at Viqarunnisa Noon School and College said that the decision to introduce a uniform question paper nationwide had been announced only about two and a half months before the examinations, making preparations difficult.
He also alleged that repeated question-paper errors caused mental pressure and consumed examination time, preventing many students from answering other questions.
Inter-Education Board Coordination Committee president and Dhaka Education Board chairman Professor Syed Akhtaruzzaman acknowledged that learning gaps and teacher shortages had contributed to the results.
‘There is no way to deny that students have learning gaps. We have shortages of subject-specific teachers, while teachers also lack adequate training,’ he told New Age.
‘The gap between classroom teaching and the examination system has also become evident. These shortcomings have contributed to the decline in both the pass rate and the number of GPA-5 achievers,’ he said.
Jashore Education Board chairman Professor Faruk-e-Azam Md Abdus Salam said that poor performance in English, ICT and accounting contributed to the board’s 44.92 per cent pass rate. The pass rates in English and ICT were 54 per cent and 67 per cent respectively.
‘Colleges do not have ICT teachers and in many institutions, teachers from other disciplines are conducting ICT classes after receiving only nominal training. They cannot teach students as effectively as required,’ he said.
‘Colleges have also been facing a serious shortage of competent English teachers for several years. It will not be possible to overcome this problem overnight without appointing adequately qualified teachers,’ he added.
Barishal Education Board acting chairman Professor Md Jasim Uddin also blamed the shortage of subject-specific teachers, saying that colleges and schools both lack subject-specific teachers.
‘Students have been weak in English, mathematics and ICT since their secondary education. They have carried these learning gaps into higher secondary education, where they have again faced a shortage of effective teaching,’ he said.
Warning that the situation was alarming and unacceptable, Dhaka University’s Institute of Education and Research professor Mohammad Mojibur Rahman told New Age that that the poor HSC results exposed the deep-rooted weaknesses and fragile state of the country’s education system.
He said the poor performance was the result of longstanding structural problems, including learning gaps at different levels of education, shortages of teachers, a lack of subject-specific and qualified teachers, inadequate ICT facilities and socioeconomic inequalities.
‘Students are moving from primary to secondary education without acquiring the required knowledge and skills, and then entering higher secondary education with similar learning gaps. It is impossible to make up for 12 years of inadequate learning in just two years,’ he said.
The government, however, attributed the poor results to more rigorous and impartial assessment of answer scripts and weaknesses in students learning.
Mahdi Amin, education adviser to the prime minister, at the press conference said the government had ensured impartial assessment in the first HSC and equivalent examinations held under the elected government.
‘We have tried to ensure the highest recognition based on how each examinee actually performed in the examination,’ he said. He said the education ministry would consider holding supplementary examinations within a month, if possible, for students who had failed in one or two subjects.
Female students recorded a higher pass rate than boys, at 56.31 per cent against 47.75 per cent, although boys secured more GPA-5s. Of the highest-grade achievers, 20,363 were boys and 19,721 were girls. Of the 9,390 participating institutions, 293 failed to secure a single pass, up from 202 in 2025. The number achieving a 100 per cent pass rate fell to 139 from 345.