Top university seats become a tough catch
With more than 361,000 students qualifying academically for higher education, competition for admission to the country’s leading public universities, medical colleges and engineering institutions is set to intensify, as only around 60,000 seats are available at the institutions most sought after by students.
The challenge comes after this year’s Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) and equivalent examinations saw 646,685 students pass, with 40,084 securing a GPA-5 and another 321,546 obtaining GPAs ranging from 3.5 to below 5.0.
These students will be competing for a limited number of places at prestigious institutions, while admission seekers from previous years will add to the pressure.
Although Bangladesh has around 1.5 million higher education seats across public and private institutions, students’ preferences remain concentrated on a relatively small group of universities and professional colleges.
These include around 50 public universities, 10-15 private universities, 47 public medical and dental colleges and a number of engineering institutions, which together offer approximately 60,000 seats.
The number of GPA-5 achievers has fallen significantly compared with last year, adding to anxiety among students and their guardians about securing admission to reputable institutions.
Education Minister Dr A N M Ehsanul Haque Milon, who also holds the portfolio of Primary and Mass Education, said the latest HSC results reflected the government’s efforts to restore academic standards and introduce a merit-based assessment system free from nepotism and artificial practices.
Speaking as chief guest at the closing ceremony of the 210th Foundation Training Course at the National Academy for Educational Management (NAEM) in the capital on Monday, he said the government was working to bring the country’s education system in line with international standards.
He alleged that irregularities in the marking of examination scripts, including both under-marking and over-marking, had occurred in the past.
Such practices were now being addressed to ensure transparency and accountability in the evaluation process, he added.
The minister said this year’s results represented a more accurate assessment of students’ merit and competence.
Arrangements were also being made for candidates who had failed in one or two subjects to sit supplementary improvement examinations so that they would not lose an entire academic year.
He also expressed concern that some students had obtained certificates without acquiring basic knowledge, practical skills or the ability to apply what they had learnt.
He cited instances of GPA-5 holders being unable to explain the meaning of HSC, distinguish between Independence Day and Victory Day, or translate a simple English sentence such as “I have passed the HSC”.
Such gaps in learning, he said, had contributed to difficulties in securing employment despite holding academic qualifications.
According to the results, 40,084 students achieved a GPA-5 this year, compared with 69,097 last year. Following re-evaluation, another 3,079 candidates were awarded GPA-5s in 2025, taking last year’s total to 72,176. This means the number of top achievers has declined by 32,092 this year.
Despite the availability of a large number of higher education places nationwide, the immediate challenge for many successful candidates will be to perform well in competitive admission tests and secure places in their preferred institutions.
University Grants Commission (UGC) data show that 54 public universities offer 63,656 seats. Another 107 private universities have around 410,000 seats, although students tend to focus on only 10-15 of them.
Colleges affiliated with the National University account for 946,095 seats in degree and honours programmes, while the Bangladesh Open University offers 42,434 places. Medical and dental institutions together have more than 12,000 seats.
The country also has 800 seats at two international universities – the Islamic University of Technology (IUT) in Gazipur and the Asian University for Women in Chattogram.
Specialised institutions provide further opportunities. Four engineering colleges and six textile colleges offer 720 seats each, while public and private nursing and midwifery institutions have 5,600 places. Fourteen marine and aeronautical colleges offer another 660 seats.
The Islamic Arabic University has 11,000 seats in Fazil and honours programmes, while seven government colleges in the capital, operating under a common admission arrangement, offer 11,290 places.
Even after accounting for successful candidates and students from previous years seeking admission or changing subjects, an estimated 700,000 to 800,000 seats across the country’s higher education institutions could remain vacant.
However, the concentration of demand on a limited number of institutions is expected to make admission particularly difficult. Students have also called for at least one admission test centre in Dhaka for public and technical universities outside the capital, arguing that this would reduce travel costs and hardship.
Admission eligibility varies across institutions. Medical college applicants need a combined minimum GPA of 9.0 in the SSC and HSC examinations. BUET requires at least GPA-4 in SSC and GPA-5 in HSC, while applicants to the University of Dhaka’s Science Faculty need a combined GPA of 8.0. The minimum combined requirement is 7.5 for its Humanities and Business Studies faculties.
For the 19 universities under the integrated admission system, the combined minimum GPA requirements are 7.0 for Science, 6.0 for Humanities and 6.5 for Business Studies, with no individual examination result allowed to fall below 3.0.
UGC Chairman Professor Dr Mamun Ahmed said admission to higher education institutions depended on subject-specific assessments and entrance examinations. Only candidates who performed well in those tests would secure places, he told journalists.
