MP, 8 May 2025, Kolkata: The West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education (WBCHSE) on Wednesday announced the Higher Secondary (HS) examination results, marking the end of the decades-old annual exam system with the best performance in more than ten years, excluding the pandemic period.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee congratulated successful students in a post on X, saying: “My dear students, to all of you who have passed the Higher Secondary Examination this year, I extend my heartfelt love and congratulations! I hope you will achieve even greater success in the future and bring more pride to our nation and people.
And to those who may not have performed as expected, I want to say: don’t be disheartened. Keep trying. You’ll see that next time, you will surely do better.”
Education minister Bratya Basu also extended his congratulations to the successful Higher Secondary candidates. This year, 4,82,984 regular candidates enrolled and 4,73,919 appeared in the exams held from March 3 to 18.
Of them, 4,30,286 students passed, registering a pass percentage of 90.79 per cent, slightly higher than last year’s 90 per cent and the best since 2011, excluding 2021, when exams were not held due to the pandemic.
This was the last batch to appear under the annual exam system. Starting next year, the Council will adopt a semester-based system, with students taking exams twice a year. A
Among districts, East Midnapore recorded the highest pass percentage at 95.74 per cent, followed by North 24-Parganas (93.53 per cent) and Kolkata (93.43 per cent). Ten districts posted pass rates above 90 per cent.
Though more girls (2,54,016) than boys (2,19,903) appeared for the exam, boys had a higher pass rate of 93 per cent, compared to 88.88 per cent for girls. However, in higher-scoring categories, girls performed better.
A total of 1,95,244 students (45.38 per cent) secured 60 per cent and above (Grade B+), including 1,06,692 girls (47.26 per cent) and 88,552 boys (43.3 per cent). In the 70 per cent and above category (Grade A), 1,10,402 students (25.66%) qualified — 62,257 girls (27.57 per cent) and 48,145 boys (23.54 per cent).
For scores above 80 per cent (Grade A+), 44,121 students (10.25 per cent) made the cut, with 25,020 girls (11.08 per cent) and 19,101 boys (9.34 per cent). In the highest bracket, 90% and above (Grade O), 7,309 students (around 1.7 per cent) qualified — 3,832 girls and 3,477 boys — with girls narrowly ahead.
WBCHSE president Chiranjib Bhattacharya credited government initiatives like Kanyashree scheme for improving girls’ participation and performance. “Despite a slightly lower pass percentage, girls have outperformed in higher grade brackets,” he said.
A significant trend was rural students outperformed their urban counterparts across grade categories. While 31.04 per cent of rural candidates scored 60 per cent and above, only 14.33 per cent of urban students achieved the same. In the top bracket (90 per cent and above), 1.04 per cent of rural students made the grade compared to just 0.66 per cent of urban students.
Bhattacharya noted: “This rural edge requires deeper analysis to understand the driving factors.” Among individual toppers, Rupayan Pal of CMS High School, East Burdwan, secured the top rank with 497 marks (99.4 per cent), followed by Tushar Debnath of Bakshirhat High School, Cooch Behar (496), and Rajarshi Adhikary of Arambagh High School, Hooghly (495). Srijita Ghoshal of Sonamukhi Girls’ High School, Bankura, ranked fourth and was the highest-scoring girl with 494 marks (98.8 per cent).
A total of 72 students from 20 districts featured in the top ten merit list — 52 boys and 20 girls. Hooghly contributed the most students (14) to the list, while Kolkata had only three.
Stream-wise, Science saw the highest pass percentage at 99.46 per cent, a notable increase from last year’s 97.19 per cent. Commerce followed with 97.52 per cent (down from 98.08 per cent) and Arts remained steady at 88.25 per cent.
Despite this year’s strong performance, concerns remain that nearly 55 per cent of students failed to score 60 per cent or more, which could limit opportunities in competitive college admissions.
However, Bhattacharya pointed out that this year saw the highest percentage of students scoring 60 per cent and above since 2015, barring pandemic exceptions. Students who did not qualify this year will have the option to migrate to the semester system, provided they apply through schools and attend regular classes.
Meanwhile, with a Supreme Court order potentially leading to the termination of over 15,000 teachers after December 31, 2025, WBCHSE secretary Priyadarshini Mallick said the Council is working on a cluster-based teaching strategy.
“We are mapping schools based on distance to address subject-specific teacher shortages,” she said. The North Bengal districts have performed well in the Higher HS with six students from Cooch Behar district securing positions in the top 10 of the state merit list.
Battling economic constraints, Tushar Debnath from Boxirhat in the Cooch Behar district, has brought pride to his family and the entire region by securing second rank. His father, Tapan Debnath, earns a living selling vegetables in the local market, while his mother, Anjana Debnath, is a homemaker.
He had earlier ranked ninth in the state in the Madhyamik (Secondary) Examination. Tushar from Boxirhat High School topped the district with second rank in the state, scoring 496 marks. From Manindra Nath High School, three students have earned places in the top 10. Aushiki Das ranked 5th with 493 marks. Kriishty Sarkar and Leena Das both secured 8th rank, each scoring 490 marks.
Satyam Banik, a student of Ram Bhola High School, secured 9th rank with 489 marks. Priyanka Barman from Sheetalkuchi Dakali Ganj High School scored 491 marks, securing 7th position in the state. Anushka Sharma, a student of the Arts stream from New Town Girls’ High School in Alipurduar, secured seventh position in the state with 491 marks.
From Falakata High School, Jyotirmoy Dutta secured eighth position with 490 marks. Moumita Mandal of Araidanga DBM Academy, Malda has brought a ray of pride by securing a place in the state’s top ten merit list.
Moushumi Paul, a student from Muraliganj High School in Bidhannagar under Phansidewa block of Siliguri Mahakuma Parishad, stood 10th in the state securing 488 marks. In the South Dinajpur district, Kaurab Barman, a student from Balapur High School in Balurghat, also secured the 10th position in the state, scoring an impressive 488 marks out of 500 in the Arts stream.
https://www.millenniumpost.in/bengal/will-fight-shoulder-to-shoulder-against-terrorism-no-room-for-differences-mamata-609778
