Out of 18.7 lakh students who wrote the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) Class 10 examinations this year, 91.46% have passed. It was 91.1% last year.
However, the number of high scorers has dropped this time in stark contrast to the trend in the Class 12 examination. Over 1.8 lakh candidates scored above 90%, compared to 2.2 lakh last year. More than 57,000 scored above 95% last year and it dropped to about 41,800 this year. In a break with practice, no merit list of toppers was announced.
The Class 10 exams were less affected by the COVID-19 pandemic than the Class 12 schedule, as only two papers -- Information and Communication Technology, and Computer Applications -- were remaining by the time schools were shut down and examinations halted in mid-March. For students in northeast Delhi, where violence in February disrupted examinations as well, another six papers were also cancelled. The CBSE provided alternate assessment to declare results for those papers.
Girls continued to perform better than boys, widening the pass percantage gap to 3.17%. While boys mintained the exact same pass percentage -- 90.14% -- as last year, girls improved to 93.31%. The performance of transgender students dipped significantly, with only 79% passing this time, in comparison to 94.7% last year.
Almost 94.5% of children with special needs passed the exams, a slight dip from last year's 96%.
South shines
The southern region continued to outshine others, with Thiruvananthapuram students achieving a 99.28% pass percentage, followed by Chennai, Bengaluru and Pune, which all crossed 98%. The overall Delhi region improved its performance, with a percentage of almost 86% in comparison to almost 81% last year.
About 8% of students nationwide have been placed in compartment. The schedule for compartment exams is yet to be announced, given the ongoing pandemic.
The results are available on the cbseresults.nic.in and results.nic.in . Other modes to access the results include the Umang Mobile app and messages sent directly to students on their registered mobile numbers and email addresses. Schools have also been emailed the results. Digital marksheets as well as passing, migration and skill certificates will be available through Digilocker.
The CBSE has decided to replace the term “Fail” by “Essential Repeat” on its website and all documents this year. Students and parents can avail the Board's Tele-counselling facility until July 27 by calling toll free number 1800 11 8004 on all days from 9.30 am to 5.30 pm.
