99.37% students pass CBSE Class XII exam, over 70k score above 95%

A historic 99.37 per cent of candidates cleared their CBSE Class XII examination, conducted through an alternate assessment scheme, along with a significant increase in the percentage of candidates who have scored above 95 per cent.

In 2019, 1.47 per cent of candidates had scored above 95 per cent, which had more than doubled to 3.24 per cent in 2020. This year, this has further risen to 5.37 per cent of candidates or 70,004 of the 13,69,745 regular candidates.

In the absence of board examinations this year, CBSE calculated the marks of Class XII students through a complex computation process, drawing on students’ results in their Class X board exams, Class XI final examinations, Class XII internal tests and examinations conducted in the schools during the course of the year and board Internal Assessment and Practical Examination scores. It also used a moderation system to try and address unevenness in the manner of internal scoring across different schools.

At the end of a rough academic year and an uncertain run-up to the results, this formula worked overwhelmingly in the favour of students with a jump of over 10 percentage points from last year’s pass percentage of 88.78 per cent. It should be noted that last year’s pass percentage was also a considerable jump from 2019’s 83.4 per cent, with results in 2020 also having been computed through a different alternate evaluation scheme as the examinations had been interrupted by the pandemic in the country.

The jump in the pass percentage has been exceptionally high in private schools — from 88.22 per cent in 2020 to 99.22 per cent this year. All regular candidates in Kendriya Vidyalayas have passed.

It is significant to note that the numbers declared on Friday do not reflect the performances of all students. It does not include the results of 60,443 private and patrachar candidates who have not been marked through the alternate assessment scheme and will have to sit for examinations which will be conducted starting August 16. Pass percentages are low among these candidates — last year, it stood at 37.49 per cent. It also does not include the results of 65,184 regular candidates whose results are still under process and the board has stated that their results will be declared by August 5.