Results of the Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education (MSBSHSE) class XII aka HSC exams announced Tuesday (August 3) set a new record with the overall pass percentage touching 99.63 percent for academic year 2020-21. Registering an increase of 9 percent over the previous year’s 90.66 percent, this is the highest ever overall pass percentage for fresh candidates recorded by the board. 46 students scored 100 percent marks.

The sharp increase in the number of students scoring above 90 percent was another record created this year. This year 91,420 students scored above 90 percent. Amongst them, 1,372 students scored above 95 percent. During the academic year 2019-20, only 7344 students had scored above 90 percent.

The pass percentage of girls at 99.73 was marginally better than the pass percentage of boys at 99.54. Students from arts and commerce stream fared better than those from the science stream. While the arts and commerce stream recorded a pass percentage of 99.83 and 99.91 respectively, the overall pass percentage for the science stream was 99.45 percent.

Of the nine regional divisions – Mumbai, Pune, Latur, Ratnagiri, Amravati, Aurangabad, Nashik, Nagpur and Kolhapur where the MSBSHSE conducts the HSC exams, the Konkan (Ratnagiri) division recorded the highest pass percentage at 99.81 percent. The Aurangabad division recorded the lowest pass percentage at 99.34. 

This year, over 13 lakh fresh candidates registered to write for the state board class XII exams. The exams scheduled in March were postponed and later cancelled entirely due to the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the absence of board exams, students were evaluated based on an alternative marking policy devised by the education department. Junior colleges in the state followed the 40:30:30 formula tabulating marks on the basis of internal assessments as well as class X and class XI results. While 30 percent weightage was given to the average of the best of three subjects of the student’s class X results, another 30 percent was given to class XI results. The remaining 40 percent weightage was based on class XII internals assessment marks. The MSBSHSE has instituted a grievance redressal mechanism for candidates having objections and complaints regarding the computation of their marks. 

This year 4,789 students were unable to clear the exams as the board didn’t receive their results from the junior colleges. Many of those who failed were students who migrated due to the pandemic and were unreachable. 

Also Read: Bengal: Class 12 board result declared, 97. 69 % pass