Bengaluru’s Vibha Swaminathan and Kolkata’s Dewang Kumar Agarwal have set a record by becoming the first students to score a perfect 100% in the Indian School Certificate (ISC) examinations.

“After I did an internship at a law firm at the beginning of Class 12, I decided to study law,” said Ms. Swaminthan, a Humanities student at Mallya Aditi International School.

“To me, it’s about working with people and understanding how they engage with policies and with the system,” she added.

A science student from La Martiniere for Boys, Mr. Agarwal said it was important to put academics first.

“I enjoy music, books, swimming, but I made sure there was no compromising with my studies. My only advice is to work hard everyday, taking small steps toward a bigger goal and don’t panic,” he said, adding he hopes to study computer science in college. “I’ve always been into scientific logical thinking and reasoning, so it seems a natural choice for me.”

A second chance

Meanwhile, there is good news for unsuccessful students as well, with the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) deciding to introduce compartmental examinations for the first time.

Of the 86,713 students who attempted the ISC examination, 96.5% passed.

The joint toppers of the Class 10 or the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) examinations were Juhi Rupesh Kajaria of Mumbai and Manhar Bansal of Muktsar, Punjab, who both scored 99.6%.

In the ICSE exams, a total of 1.96 lakh students appeared, with the pass percentage at 98.5%.

For the first time in its 61-year history, the CISCE will introduce compartmental examinations for unsuccessful candidates at both the ICSE and ISC levels. This will give students a chance to clear the examination in the same year, without having to wait an additional year.

“It has been a long-pending request from all quarters that we should go in for compartmental examinations, especially from those who fail in just one paper, so we have decided to take that step,” Gerry Arathoon, CISCE chief executive told The Hindu on Tuesday, soon after the results were declared.

“Earlier, we did not think it was necessary. Our own rules said students were expected to qualify in one sitting and so we also would not admit students who did compartmental examinations from other Boards into our Board [for Class 11]. This move will help our own students as well as those who want to join our Board,” Mr. Arathoon said.

Students who meet the criteria for compartmental examinations will have a statement on their marksheets declaring them eligible, said Mr. Arathoon. Schools can register eligible candidates from June 24 to 30. The compartmental examinations will be held on July 15, 16 and 17 and the results will be declared on August 5. Girls outshone boys in both the ICSE and ISC examinations.