HSC exams continue across Bangladesh except Chittagong Board
Students sat for examinations in three subjects on Monday as more than 1.27 million candidates take part in this year's HSC and equivalent exams.
The Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) and equivalent examinations continued across Bangladesh on Monday (July 13), with exams taking place under all education boards except the Chittagong Education Board. The examinations began at 10:00 am.
Under the country's eight general education boards, Science students sat for Physics (Theoretical) First Paper, Business Studies students took Accounting First Paper, and Humanities students appeared for Logic First Paper. The Madrasa Education Board held the English Second Paper examination, while the Technical Education Board conducted the Office Management examination.
A total of 1,270,583 candidates are taking part in this year's HSC and equivalent examinations. Among them, 621,969 are male students and 648,614 are female students. Female candidates outnumber male candidates by 26,645.
Education stakeholders say the higher number of female candidates reflects continued progress in girls' participation in education.
Earlier, at a press conference at the Secretariat on July 1, Secondary and Higher Education Division Secretary Abdul Khaleq said students from 9,439 educational institutions are appearing for the examinations at 2,697 centres across the country. He also said the nine general education boards are using a single and uniform set of question papers this year.
At the same time, data from the Ministry of Education and the education boards show that around 36 percent of regular students are not taking part in this year's HSC and equivalent examinations.
According to the data, around 1.5 million students enrolled in Class XI after passing the SSC and equivalent examinations in the 2024–25 academic year. However, only about 950,000 students completed examination registration. As a result, around 550,000 regular students are not sitting for this year's examinations.
The participation rate has declined compared with last year. In 2024, slightly more than 29 percent of regular students did not take part in the examinations. This year, the figure has increased by around seven percentage points.
Under the nine general education boards, 1,186,461 students enrolled in Class XI. Of them, 794,477 submitted examination forms, while 391,984 did not. As a result, 33.4 percent of regular students under these boards are not taking part in this year's examinations. The corresponding rate was around 27 percent last year.
Under the Madrasa Education Board, 139,929 students enrolled in the first year of Alim. Of them, 78,269 completed examination registration, while more than 61,000 did not. This means 44.7 percent of regular students are not appearing in the examinations, compared with around 39 percent last year.
The Technical Education Board recorded the highest non-participation rate. Of the 165,542 students enrolled in Class XI (Vocational), 75,197 submitted examination forms, while 90,345 did not. As a result, 54.58 percent of regular students under the board are not taking part in this year's examinations. The rate was around 40 percent last year.
The HSC and equivalent examinations will continue according to the published schedule under the respective education boards.