CBSE Class 10, 12 results: Girls outshine boys again, pass percentage up against pre-pandemic year

New Delhi: Girls outshone boys in the CBSE Class 10 and 12 exams which saw a pass percentage of 94.4 and 92.71 respectively, according to results announced on Friday.

The pass percentage in the CBSE Class 12 exam has gone up by over 9 percentage points in comparison to the pre-pandemic academic session of 2018-19 while a similar jump has been seen in the number of candidates scoring above 95 and 90 per cent marks.

Similar trends have been witnessed in the Class 10 results, announced by the board on Friday. The board officials, however, claimed that this academic session was a "special one" and cannot be compared with previous sessions.

"Covid, non-conduct of Classes, holding examinations two times, conducting an objective type examination, giving replies on OMRs, evaluation by schools etc, has made this session a special one and thus it cannot be compared with any of the previous sessions," CBSE Examination Controller Sanyam Bhardwaj said.

The board has also decided against publishing merit lists to avoid "unhealthy competition" among students.

"As per earlier decision of the board, no merit list will be declared to avoid unhealthy competition among students. The board is also not awarding first, second and third division to its students," Bhardwaj said.

"The board will issue merit certificates to 0.1 per cent of students who have scored the highest marks in subjects," he added.

The University Grants Commission (UGC) had in March announced that the undergraduate admissions in all central universities will now be through Common University Entrance Test (CUET) instead of Class 12 scores.

This year, the Class 12 pass percentage stands at 92.71 per cent with 1,34,797 candidates having scored above 90 per cent and 33,432 above 95 per cent. Over 67,000 students have been placed in compartment.

In 2021, the pass percentage in Class 12 stood at 99.37 per cent, the highest ever recorded by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). The last-year result was declared on the basis of a special assessment scheme as no exams were conducted due to the pandemic.

Similarly, in 2020, the exams were mid-way when a nationwide lockdown was announced to contain the spread of COVID-19 and results were announced later on the basis of an assessment scheme which took into account students' performance in the exams conducted before the lockdown. The pass percentage that year stood at 88.78.

In 2019 i.e. before the outbreak of virus, the pass percentage was recorded at 83.40, whereas the figures in 2018, 2017 and 2016 stood at 83.01, 82.02 and 83.05, respectively.

A similar jump has been seen in the number of candidates scoring more than 90 and 95 per cent.

In comparison to the 2019 figure, the number of candidates scoring above 90 and 95 per cent has gone up by at least 40,000 and 15,000, respectively, in 2022.

In 2020 and 2021, 1,57,934 and 1,50,152 candidates scored above 90 per cent, and 38,686 and 70,004 scored above 95 per cent.

These numbers were relatively low in 2019 and the preceding years.

In 2019, 17,693 scored 95 plus and 94,299, 90 plus.

In 2018, the number of 95 and 90 pc scorers stood at 12,737 and 72,599, respectively.

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) had recorded the highest-ever pass percentage of 99.04 in the Class-10 exam last year. However, the results last year were announced on the basis of an alternative assessment scheme as the exams could not be conducted due to COVID-19.

The pass percentage this year is 94.4, which is 4.64 per cent lower than last year's 91.46. The difference between the pass percentage of girls and boys was 3.7 last year.

While the pass percentage of girls stood at 95.21, that of boys and transgender candidates was 93.8 and 90 respectively.

Over 21.09 lakh regular candidates had registered for the Class-10 exam this year, of whom 20.93 lakh had appeared in it.

The number of candidates scoring above 95 per cent has increased by over 7,000, with 64,908 students falling in the bracket. Similarly, the number of students scoring between 90 and 95 per cent has gone up by over 36,000 from last year's 2,00,962. A total of 2,36,993 candidates have scored between 90 and 95 per cent this year.

The number of children with special needs scoring above 95 per cent is 63, while 290 students in the category have scored above 90 per cent. In the CBSE-affiliated schools abroad, 97.29 per cent students have passed Class 10. Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas (JNVs) have achieved a pass percentage of 99.71, followed by private schools (96.86), Kendriya Vidalayas (96.61) and schools under the Central Tibetan Schools Administration (91.27). Government and government-aided schools have achieved a pass percentage of 80.68 and 76.73 respectively.

A total of 1,07,689 candidates have been placed under compartment as against 17,636 students last year.

The Trivandrum region has achieved the highest pass percentage of 99.68, followed by Bengaluru (99.22), Chennai (98.97), Ajmer (98.14), Patna (97.65), Pune (97.41), Bhubaneswar (96.46), Panchkula (96.33), Noida (96.08), Chandigarh (95.38), Prayagraj (94.74), Dehradun (93.43), Bhopal (93.33), Delhi East (86.96), Delhi West (85.94) and Guwahati (82.23).

The board also announced that it will conduct Class 10 and 12 exams for the 2022-23 academic session from February 15 next year. Unlike last year, there will be only one exam at the end of the academic session in 2023.

"In light of the lessening of impact of the Covid pandemic across the globe, the board has decided to conduct the 2023 examination from February 15, 2023," Bhardwaj said. "CBSE has decided to go back to the conventional practice of holding board exams once a year. In 2022, in view of COVID-19, these exams were conducted in two terms," Bhardwaj had earlier said.