Staff Reporter :
The results of the Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) and equivalent examinations for 2025 have been published, showing the lowest pass rate in 21 years.
The results were released this Thursday morning, through all education board websites, examination centres, and educational institutions across the country, as well as via SMS.
According to the Education Ministry, the average pass rate across the 11 education boards — nine general boards, one technical board, and one madrasa board — stands at 58.83 per cent, a steep fall of nearly 19 percentage points from last year’s 77.78 per cent. The last time the HSC pass rate dipped this low was in 2005, when it stood at 59.16 per cent.
This year, a total of 1,235,661 students took part in the examinations under the general, technical, and madrasa boards, of whom 726,960 passed. The HSC and equivalent exams were held between 26 June and 19 August 2025.
Among the education boards, the Bangladesh Madrasah Education Board achieved the highest pass rate at 75.61 per cent. The Technical Education Board recorded a pass rate of 62.67 per cent.
Among the nine general education boards, Dhaka led with 64.62 per cent, followed by Rajshahi (59.40), Barishal (62.57), Dinajpur (57.49), Chattogram (52.57), Sylhet (51.86), Mymensingh (51.54), Jashore (50.20), and Cumilla (48.86).
The number of students attaining the highest grade, GPA-5, has also dropped sharply this year. A total of 69,097 students earned GPA-5, compared to 145,911 in 2024 — a decline of 76,814.
In the Alim examinations under the Madrasah Board, 82,809 students appeared, including 45,068 male and 37,741 female candidates. Of them, 62,609 students passed, resulting in a 75.61 per cent pass rate.
Students from eight overseas centres also took part in the HSC examinations this year. Out of 291 candidates, 279 passed, achieving an impressive 95.88 per cent pass rate.
At a press conference following the results’ publication at the Secretariat, Adviser to the Education Ministry Professor Chowdhury Rafiqul Abrar said the government wanted the education system to “reflect its true picture.”
“Being a responsible adviser, I want the true picture of the education system to be reflected again,” Abrar said, adding that for years, the real crisis in education had been obscured by artificially inflated results. “Now, we want this culture to change.”
He congratulated those who performed well and expressed sympathy for those who did not succeed, encouraging them not to lose hope. “Your hard work will never go in vain. Your success is our pride,” he said.
Education officials noted that the 2025 results mark a major inflection point in Bangladesh’s secondary education performance, ending a two-decade trend of gradually rising or stable pass rates. For the first time since 2005, more than 40 per cent of students failed to pass the HSC examinations, sparking fresh debate about the country’s curriculum, assessment system, and classroom standards.
