The 2026 Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) and equivalent examinations began simultaneously across Bangladesh on Thursday at 10am under the country's nine general education boards, the Bangladesh Technical Education Board, and the Bangladesh Madrasah Education Board.
A total of 1,270,583 candidates are taking part in this year's examinations, up by 14,316 from the 1,256,267 candidates (regular and irregular) who appeared in 2025.
Uniform question papers, enhanced security
The examinations are being held at 2,697 centres across 9,439 educational institutions.
For the first time, all nine general education boards are administering examinations using a completely uniform set of question papers.
To ensure transparency, CCTV cameras have been made mandatory at all examination centres. The Ministry of Education has also set up a CCTV Monitoring Cell, enabling officials to monitor any examination centre across the country in real time.
In addition, police officers deployed at examination centres will wear body-worn cameras to help prevent malpractice and respond to any untoward incidents.
Exam schedule, special arrangements
This year's HSC examinations cover 77 subjects and will be completed over 21 examination days.
Authorities said regular classes will continue at educational institutions on weekdays when no examinations are scheduled.
Authorities have also scrapped examination venues previously known for widespread cheating or controversy. However, some remote centres in haor, hill and char areas have been retained considering the transportation challenges faced by candidates.
Special arrangements have also been made for candidates from the Seventh-day Adventist community, allowing Saturday examinations to be held after sunset within examination centres.
General education boards
Under the nine general education boards, the number of candidates increased from 1,055,398 in 2025 to 1,069,714 in 2026.
Of this year's candidates, 492,406 are male and 577,308 are female. Compared with last year, the number of male candidates increased by 1,122, while the number of female candidates increased by 13,194.
The number of participating institutions rose from 4,808 in 2025 to 4,885 this year, while examination centres increased from 1,605 to 1,626.
Madrasah Education Board
The Bangladesh Madrasah Education Board has 92,905 candidates this year, up from 86,102 in 2025.
Among them, 52,011 are male and 40,894 are female, marking an overall increase of 6,803 candidates.
The number of examination centres increased from 459 to 461, while participating institutions rose from 2,682 to 2,705.
Technical Education Board
The Bangladesh Technical Education Board has 107,964 candidates this year, down from 109,611 in 2025, a decrease of 1,647.
This year's candidates include 77,552 males and 30,412 females.
The number of examination centres fell significantly from 733 to 610, while participating institutions increased from 1,824 to 1,849.
Regular candidates
Under the nine general education boards, 1,186,461 students registered in Class XI (2024–25 academic year). Of them, 794,477 submitted examination forms, while 391,984 students, or 33.4%, did not.
Under the Bangladesh Madrasah Education Board, 139,929 students registered in the first year of Alim (2024–25 academic year). Among them, 78,269 submitted examination forms, while 61,660 students, or 44.7%, did not.
Under the Bangladesh Technical Education Board, 165,542 students registered in Class XI (Vocational) for the 2024–25 academic year. Of them, 75,197 submitted examination forms, while 90,345 students, or 54.58%, did not.