A total of 422,905 students who failed in one or two subjects in this year’s HSC and equivalent examinations will have the opportunity to retake those subjects within a month, allowing them to avoid waiting until next year’s examinations.
Education Minister Dr ANM Ehsanul Haque Milon and Prime Minister’s Education Adviser Mahadi Amin shared the information at an event at the Secretariat on Saturday, where the results were formally announced.
The Ministry of Education had earlier announced plans to hold supplementary examinations for students who failed this year. The initial plan was to complete the process, from holding the examinations to publishing the results, within two months for students who failed in two subjects and within three months for those who failed in three or more subjects.
Professor Syed Akhtaruzzaman, chairman of the Inter-Education Board Coordination Committee and the Dhaka Education Board, said a one-month window for re-scrutiny of answer scripts would follow the publication of the results. The supplementary examination schedule would be announced after the re-scrutiny results were published.
The examinations would then be held, answer scripts evaluated and results published.
He said the process could be completed within two months if students were required to sit for examinations in only two subjects. However, it could take up to three months if examinations were needed in three or more subjects. The ministry would make the final decision on how many failed subjects would qualify for the opportunity.
Under the usual system, students who fail one or more subjects in public examinations such as the SSC and HSC have to wait until the following year to retake them. They can choose to sit for only the failed subjects or retake all subjects. This can delay their academic progress and cause additional mental stress.
To address the issue, Mahadi Amin had earlier proposed allowing students who failed public examinations to retake them within three months instead of waiting a full year. He made the proposal on October 10 at the Challenged Students' Convention 2026 in Agargaon, Dhaka.
According to education board sources, this year’s HSC and equivalent examinations under the 11 education boards began on July 2. Written examinations ended on August 8, while practical examinations concluded on August 15.
A total of 1,270,583 candidates took part in the examinations at 2,697 centres, with students from 9,439 educational institutions participating.
