Bengaluru: Karnataka recorded a pass percentage of 93.1% in the Class 12 CBSE examinations, marking a three-year low and the first time the overall percentage dropped below 95%. The results, announced on Wednesday, reflected a national trend of declining pass rates.
National Ranking and Comparison
Karnataka stood eighth in the country, while the overall national pass percentage fell by 3.19% from the previous year’s 88.39% to 85.2%. In 2024, Karnataka ranked ninth with a pass percentage of 96.9%, which dropped to 95.95% in 2025 before falling further this year.
Among other states and union territories, Lakshadweep achieved a 100% pass rate, followed by Goa (96.38%), Kerala (95.61%), Tamil Nadu (95.25%), Mizoram (94.94%), Daman and Diu (93.86%), and Andhra Pradesh (93.23%).
Performance in Karnataka
A total of 22,386 students appeared for the exams in Karnataka, out of which 20,861 passed. The pass percentage for girls was 94.4%, higher than boys at 92%. The state has 315 CBSE schools offering Class 12 education, and exams were conducted at 187 centres.
Region-wise, the Bengaluru centre ranked third, behind Trivandrum (95.62%) and Chennai (93.84%).
Reasons for the Decline
Schools attributed the drop to the Central Board of Secondary Education’s new On Screen Marking (OSM) system for answer books. Unlike traditional evaluation, this digital method does not allow leniency, which was a common practice for borderline answer scripts.
Manila Carvalho, principal of Delhi Public School East, said, “It is a common practice among teachers to be lenient when it comes to answer scripts that are on the borderline. With digital evaluation, no moderation or grace happened.”
A teacher involved in valuation noted, “I took part in valuation, and this is possibly the strictest yet. It is not about toppers, but those who are at the bottom. Usually, there is a case-to-case consideration by teachers. It was absent this time as the digital valuation gave no leeway.”
Subject-Wise Impact
Across schools, Physics saw significant disappointment, and many students also experienced a drop in Mathematics scores. A principal of a prominent school stated, “We’ll offer comments only after checking the photocopy. Students couldn’t score well in applied Maths too.”
The new evaluation system has raised concerns among educators and students alike, prompting discussions on its long-term implications for academic performance.
