The Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and equivalent examinations for 2025 have recorded the lowest pass rate in the last 17 years, with an average pass rate of 68.45 percent across 11 education boards. Approximately 606,660 students have failed this year.
The results were officially announced today, Thursday, July 10, at 2:00 PM, by Professor Dr. Khandaker Ehsanul Kabir, Chairman of the Dhaka Education Board and President of the Inter-Education Board Coordination Committee, at the Dhaka Education Board conference room.
During the announcement, Professor Dr. Ehsanul Kabir stated that students received the marks they deserved in this year’s SSC and equivalent examinations. He emphasized that both over-marking and under-marking are detrimental. He clarified that teachers who evaluated the answer scripts this year were not given any special instructions regarding over-marking or under-marking from higher authorities.
“This year, there were no specific directives from the higher echelons to us, and we conveyed the same instructions to the teachers,” he said. “We told them, ‘You are teachers. You know which answer deserves full marks and which deserves zero. Give what is due, and do not give what is not due.'”
Dr. Ehsanul Kabir further added, “Our statistics this time have no artificiality or strictness. Moreover, over-marking or under-marking is unfair. It creates disparity, where those who deserve to pass and those who do not end up on the same level. Due to irregularities, the good and bad appear to be the same, but in reality, the difference remains. We later see the impact of this in university admission tests.”
Pass Rate Trends Over the Years:
A review of past results shows a fluctuating trend in SSC pass rates:
- 2007: 58.36%
- 2008: 72.18%
- 2009: 70.89%
- 2010: 79.98%
- 2011: 82.31%
- 2013: 89.00%
- 2014: 91.34% (Highest recorded pass rate)
- 2015: 87.04%
- 2016: 88.29%
- 2017: 80.35%
- 2018: 77.77%
- 2019: 82.20%
- 2020: 82.87%
- 2021: 93.58% (Record high due to shortened syllabus during the COVID-19 pandemic)
- 2022: 87.44%
- 2023: 80.39%
- 2024: 83.04% (Full marks and full syllabus examination)
- 2025: 68.45% (Second lowest in the last 18 years)
The significant drop in the pass rate for 2025, especially after the record high in 2021 (due to the shortened syllabus during the pandemic) and a relatively stable rate in 2024 (with full syllabus exams), highlights a notable shift in the examination outcomes.
