CBSE class 10: UP records dip in pass percentage

LUCKNOW: With 89.3%, UP recorded a marginal decline of 1% in the pass percentage from last year’s 90.3% for class 10, results of which were declared by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) on Wednesday. In 2024, UP had a pass percentage of 91.5%.Like last year, the state remained a low performer this year too. At 89.3% in class 10, UP trailed states like Rajasthan (94.8%) and Madhya Pradesh (92.5%). UP stood at par with Bihar that also recorded a pass percentage of 89.3%.Tamil Nadu emerged as the top-performing state in class 10 with 99.9% of students clearing the exam with Kerala and Telangana finishing a close second with a pass percentage of 99.8%.Once again, the state saw girls outperforming boys in class 10 - 91.5% (from 92.6% in 2025) of girls cleared the examination as compared to 87.8% (from 88.7% in 2025) of boys.A CBSE official said, a poor pupil-teacher ratio and lack of emphasis on education were the reasons for poor performance. “The state has a higher ability to improve performance. We need more quality teachers and resources such as textbooks on time, which can aid in students’ ability to learn and perform well in exams. Language barriers may also be a challenge for students in UP, particularly those who are not proficient in English or Hindi,” said an official.According to the earlier decision of the Board to avoid ‘unhealthy competition’ among students, no merit list was declared by the CBSE. Also, the Board is not awarding first, second, or third divisions to students, a press release issued by CBSE controller of examinations, Sanyam Bhardwaj, said.“However, the Board will issue the merit certificate to 0.1% of the students who scored the highest marks in the subjects,” the release said.At least 4.64 lakh students, including 2.73 lakh boys and 1.91 lakh girls, registered for class 10 exams from 4,237 schools in the state. Of these, 4.61 lakh – 2.71 lakh boys, 1.90 lakh girls - appeared. As many as 4.12 lakh students qualified.