Examinees from some prominent CBSE schools of Kolkata performed very well in the Class X board exam, with many more of them scoring 95%-plus than last year, bucking the national trend that saw a dip in the high scores. Overall, examinees from Bengal also registered a significantly higher success rate (95.2%) than the national average of 91.5%. In fact, it could be argued that it was the stellar performance of Kolkata students that propped up the Bhubaneswar region’s success rate to a credible 93.2%. Yet again, girls — with a success rate of 96.3% — outperformed boys (94.5%). In four city schools affiliated to the CBSE board — DPS Ruby Park, Lakshmipat Singhania Academy, Sushila Birla Girls School and Birla Bharati — 25% students secured 95%-plus aggregate, up from 20% who had secured similar marks last year. While 206 of 812 students who took the exam from these schools got 95%-plus marks, it was 155 out of 772 who performed similarly last year. Birla High School principal Loveleen Saigal, too, confirmed more students had scored high marks than last year. South Point appeared to be the only notable exception, with 181 students in the 95%-plus bracket against 223 last year. Nationally, 41,804 out of 18.7 lakh students (2.2% of those who took the exam this year) scored 95%-plus marks; last year, it was 2.4%.