CBSE pass percentages rise above pre-pandemic levels

This was the first time since 2019 that the examinations were held in all subjects. Overall, 94.4% of the students who took the class 10 exam and 92.71% who took the school-graduating twelfth grade test cleared the boards.

The overall percentage of students who cleared the Central Board of Secondary Education’s (CBSE) class 12 examination surged by 9.3 percentage point when compared to the pass percentage before the pandemic in 2019, according to results released on Friday.

Explaining the reason behind better results this year in comparison to 2019, CBSE’s controller of examination, Sanyam Bhardwaj, said there were several reasons.

A similar, although less stark, trend was seen in the case of class 10 examination, in which the pass percentage rose by 3.3 percentage point.

This was the first time since 2019 that the examinations were held in all subjects. Overall, 94.4% of the students who took the class 10 exam and 92.71% who took the school-graduating twelfth grade test cleared the boards.

The pandemic triggered lockdowns and school closures in 2020 as well as 2021. The assessment for the batches that took the tenth and twelfth boards in 2021 was particularly unusual, and it was therefore a year in which 99.37% students cleared class 12 and 99.04% students passed class 10 since the assessments used an alternate mechanism.

Explaining the reason behind better results this year in comparison to 2019, CBSE’s controller of examination, Sanyam Bhardwaj, said there were several reasons. “Firstly, the syllabus was rationalised by 30%. Then the exams were conducted in two terms. And third, students were given a significant number of internal choices in question papers. All these factors together helped students score better than previous years when all exams were conducted.”

“We cannot compare this result with last years’ when an alternate method of assessment was used in view of the pandemic,” he added.

In both 2020 and 2021, the board declared class 10 and class 12 results based on a tabulation policy approved by the Supreme Court of India. Students were marked on the basis of their internal exams, practical assessments, assignments and performance in previous grades.

In 2020, the test for several subjects in both grades were cancelled since the first lockdown was clamped while the boards were underway in the last week of March. In 2021, no exam was conducted since the second wave of Covid-19 broke out.

To avoid a repeat of 2021, CBSE decided to conduct the exams in two terms for the 2022 batch. The first term was conducted in objective type format in November-December last year, and the second in subjective format in April-May this year.

The board gave a 30:70 weightage to term one and term two performance while preparing the final results. In practical exams, equal weightage was given to both the terms.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the students for their performance. “Congratulations to all my young friends who passed the CBSE Class XII exams. The grit and dedication of these youngsters is commendable. They prepared for these exams through a time when humanity faced a monumental challenge and achieved this success,” he said in a tweet.

“There are innumerable opportunities that await our young Exam Warriors, who passed the CBSE class XII exams. I urge them to follow their inner calling and pursue subjects they are passionate about. My best wishes for their future endeavours,” he added.

Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan also posted his congratulatory messages for students. “Heartening to note that girls continue to outshine boys. With 94.54 pass percentage, girls have done better than boys by 3.29% [points] with boys’ pass percentage standing at 91.25. Superlative performance by girls is an indicator of positive change in society,” he said, while appreciating CBSE’s efforts of conducting exams while maintaining Covid protocols.

School principals welcomed CBSE’s marking formula. Jyoti Arora, principal of Mount Abu Public in Delhi said: “The first term exams were held when schools were trying to get back on track and switching to offline teaching learning process. Therefore, many students could not perform their best at that time. But the term two exams were conducted in relatively favourable conditions. They were in a subjective format and students were more familiar with that format. It’s good that the board has decided to give more preference to term 2 marks.”

Arora said that her school is also analysing this year’s results with respect to the results of 2019. “We cannot compare this year’s results with the last two pandemic years when students were evaluated using an alternate assessment method,” she said.

Sudha Acharya, the chairperson of the National Progressive School Conference (NPSC) — it has more than 120 Delhi schools as its members — and the principal of ITL Public School, Dwarka, said, “The term 1 exam took place within the same school. Many schools did not exercise diligence while conducting the exam. In contrast, the term 2 exam was conducted at an external centre in a subjective format on similar lines as the usual board exam.”

According to the CBSE, 1,435,366 students appeared in CBSE class 12 examination this year, out of which 1,330,662 passed. In class 10, as many as 2,093,978 students appeared, out of which 1.976,668 were declared passed.

Maintaining the trend, girls were more successful in passing the exam than boys. The gap between the pass percentage stood at 3.29% in class 12 and 1.41% in class 10.

The pass percentage among transgender students was 100% in class 12 and 90% in class 10.

In region-wise performance, Trivandrum performed the best with an overall pass percentage of 99.83% in class 12 and 99.68% in class 10.

In Delhi region, the pass percentage of private schools stood at 97.65%, and for government schools it was 96.01% this year in class 12. Delhi’s overall pass percentage stood at 86.55% in class 10.

Like previous years, Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya (JKV) performed the best among all schools in both the classes.

While 134,797 students scored 90% and above marks in class 12, as many as 33,472 students scored 95% and above. In class 10, 236,993 students scored 90% and above marks and 64,908 students scored 95% and above marks.

The board, like the last few years, did not announce a merit list of toppers to “avoid unhealthy competition”.

Several students have scored 100% marks in many subjects in both classes.

The CBSE announced that it is likely to conduct board exams next year from February 15, 2023.