93.72 pc candidates clear West Bengal Higher Secondary third semester exams

Kolkata, Oct 31 (PTI) A total of 93.72 per cent of the 6,45,832 candidates cleared the West Bengal Higher Secondary Council third semester examinations, the results of which were declared on Friday, officials said.

The exams in semester format at Plus-II level by any state board was the first such exercise in the country in sync with the state education policy, council president Chiranjib Bhattacharya told a press meet here.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Education Minister Bratya Basu congratulated the successful students and asked those whose results were not so good to work harder.

South 24 Parganas topped among the districts in terms of successful candidates with 96.72 per cent clearing the exam.

A total of 69 students, including three girls, secured the top ten positions.

Aditya Narayan Jana and Pritam Ballav, both from Purulia Ramakrishna Mission Vidyapith, shared the first rank, scoring 98.97 per cent marks each.

While one of the two No. 1 rankers said he wanted to study pure science, the other said he would love to study economics and statistics.

Ten students secured the second spot. They are Atanu Banerjee, Srijan Parichha, Soumalya Rudra, Tridev Chakraborty, Tapobrata Das, Arkadyuti Dhar, Arighna Sarkar, Aitihya Pachchal, Adrito Pal, and Pratyush Mondal, all securing 98.95 per cent marks.

The third rank solely went to Soham Bhowmick with 98.92 per cent, while Dipanwita Paul of Daulatpur High School was the topper among girls, scoring 98.42 per cent. She was the 4th in overall ranking. Nine other candidates also occcupied the 4th rank scoring 98.42 per cent.

The council president said the exams were held from September 8 to 22 and the results were published in 39 days.

The fourth semester exams will be held in February 2026.

"OMR sheets were used for the first time and none among the candidates faced any difficulties," he said.

Candidates wrote their papers in 66 subjects in four language mediums.

While there were several security features in the question papers, more sets had been kept ready in case of any report of paper leak.

Three candidates had their exams cancelled for attempting unfair practices.

This was the first higher secondary examination held under the newly introduced four-semester system, which divides the Class 12 course into two parts third and fourth semesters.

"For the first time in the country, the Higher Secondary Examination was held under the semester system. I express my gratitude to all those involved in properly organising this massive event. To those who could not achieve good results this time, I say, do not be disheartened; strive to achieve good results in the fourth semester," the chief minister said in a post on X.

The pass rate is 93.72 per cent, which is the highest from 2011 until now, Education Minister Bratya Basu said.

"Keeping pace with the new era, I hope that you will leave your mark of achievement in every field of life and take Bengal's culture and heritage further ahead," he said in a statement to students. PTI SUS NN MNB