HSC supplementary exam: Will the results count towards university admission?

Supplementary examinations will be held on 1 December for candidates who failed in up to two subjects (excluding the fourth subject) in this year’s Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) and equivalent examinations. The aim is to increase their opportunities to enter higher education. However, questions have arisen over whether the initiative will achieve its intended purpose.

The reason is that the preliminary application period for first-year undergraduate admission in the 2026–27 academic session at Dhaka University and Rajshahi University will end this month. Applications will also open this month at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) and Jagannath University. Other universities are also beginning their admission processes.

In other words, the lack of coordination between the supplementary examination schedule and the universities’ admission processes threatens to undermine the very purpose of holding the examinations at short notice.

Education experts say that coordination was needed when scheduling the supplementary examinations and the university admission process. If an integrated timeline had been set, students would have reaped the benefits of this initiative. Due to a lack of coordination, students now risk suffering as a result on the one hand, whilst on the other, the positive decision to hold the exams within a month has also come into question.

A source in the education division stated that although discussions took place on this matter among the University Grants Commission (UGC), the education boards, and the universities, students may not reap the benefits of this initiative this time due to a lack of interest from top-tier universities. However, opportunities for admission will remain open in several other institutions.

An official from the Dhaka Education Board told Prothom Alo that this year, for the first time, supplementary examinations are being held within a month of the results being published. As a result, there may be some shortcomings. However, he believes that from next year onwards, this facility will be available across all universities, and other discrepancies will be resolved.

Not only that, complications may also arise regarding the timing of the release of results for answer script re-scrutiny and re-evaluation. For instance, a candidate who failed in three subjects may have applied for re-scrutiny. If they subsequently pass in one or two subjects as a result of the re-scrutiny, they would become eligible to sit the supplementary exam.

However, according to the announcement by the Inter-Education Board Coordination Committee, the re-scrutiny results will be published on 23 November, whereas the ongoing deadline for filling out the supplementary exam forms is 9 November.

Consequently, the deadline for form submission will expire before the re-scrutiny results are published. As a result, even if some candidates become eligible to take the supplementary exam due to a change in their results, they may still miss out on the opportunity.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a resident of Chattogram told Prothom Alo that several children of a neighbour had failed in two or three subjects in this year's HSC examinations, and some of them have applied for result re-scrutiny. Now, if the re-scrutiny results show that they have passed in one or two out of the three subjects, they will become eligible for the supplementary exam.

However, questions have been raised over how they will participate in the exam if the re-scrutiny results are published after the deadline for form submission has passed. The matter ought to be taken into consideration by the government.

When asked, Professor Jasmin Taslima Banu, Controller of Examinations at the Dhaka Education Board, told Prothom Alo that all necessary measures would be taken in the best interests of the students.

The results of the HSC and equivalent examinations were published on 31 October. This year, out of 1,240,798 candidates across 11 education boards, 646,685 passed, representing an average pass rate of 52.12 per cent. A total of 40,084 students achieved a GPA-5. This year, a total of 422,905 candidates failed in one or two subjects. Among them, 298,040 candidates failed in one subject, whilst 124,865 failed in two subjects.

Usually, if a candidate fails in one or more subjects in public examinations such as the SSC and HSC, they have to sit the examinations again the following year. In that case, they can choose to take the examinations only in the subjects they failed or, if they wish, in all subjects.

However, students who fail in just one or two subjects have to wait an entire year to retake the examinations. Taking this problem into consideration, the authorities have decided to hold examinations within a month of the publication of results for candidates who failed in up to two subjects this year.

The supplementary examinations will begin on 1 December. Both regular and irregular candidates will be eligible to sit them. Form submission began on 5 November and will continue until 9 November. The deadline for payment of fees is 10 November. The form submission fee has been set at Tk 125 for each theoretical paper or subject and Tk 25 for each practical paper or subject. In addition, the examination centre fee is Tk 450.

Meanwhile, the Inter-Education Board Coordination Committee has instructed educational institutions not to charge candidates any additional fees in the name of examination form submission. A notice issued on 5 November said legal action would be taken against the head of any institution and the institution itself if the instruction was violated.

Online applications for first-year undergraduate admission at Dhaka University for the 2026–27 academic session will open on 11 November. The application period will continue until 25 November.

Admission tests will be held in five units. The Science Unit test will take place on 12 December, the Arts, Law and Social Sciences Unit test on 19 December, the Fine Arts Unit test (general knowledge and drawing) on 22 December, the Business Studies Unit test on 26 December, and the IBA Unit test on 5 December.

When asked about the matter, Dhaka University Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Academic) Professor Abdus Salam told Prothom Alo that the decision to hold supplementary examinations for candidates who failed in up to two subjects in the HSC and equivalent examinations was a positive initiative. It had given them an opportunity to pass, he said.

Referring to the level of competition in Dhaka University's admission tests, the pro-VC said that previously around 80 candidates competed for each university seat. The figure now stood at between 60 and 70. Even so, 95 to 96 per cent of those who sit the admission tests fail to obtain the pass mark.

Drawing on his own experience, Professor Abdus Salam said that even if students who passed the supplementary examinations were allowed to sit Dhaka University's admission tests, he did not think they would benefit that much.

Meanwhile, preliminary applications for admission to the undergraduate (honours) programmes at Rajshahi University for the same academic session will open on 12 November and close on 27 November. The admission tests for the ‘B’, ‘C’ and ‘A’ units at the university will be held on 8, 9 and 16 January, respectively.

The admission test for Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) will be held on 16 January. Professor Kamrul Hasan, head of BUET’s admission test committee, told Prothom Alo that the date for opening applications had not yet been approved at a meeting of the Academic Council.

However, he expected the process to begin shortly after the 20th this month. He said they always waited for the publication of the re-scrutiny results before proceeding, and would do the same this year.

Professor Kamrul Hasan’s comments suggested that candidates who pass the supplementary examinations would not be allowed to sit BUET’s admission test. He said only a small number of students were given the opportunity to take the admission test at BUET. “What would be the point of allowing candidates who pass the supplementary examinations to sit the admission test?” he asked.

Online applications for admission to the first-year undergraduate (honours) and Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) programmes at Jagannath University for the 2026–27 academic session will open on 15 November and continue until 10 December.

This means the application periods for Dhaka University and Rajshahi University will end before the supplementary examination results are published. Although admission tests at these universities will take place later, there will be no opportunity to consider supplementary examination results when determining candidates’ eligibility to apply. Similar complications may arise when other universities begin their admission processes.

According to UGC data, there are around 1,492,000 seats in higher education this year. More than one million of these are at public universities and affiliated institutions, while private universities have more than 400,000 seats. This means that even if all students who passed this year enrol in higher education, more than 845,000 seats are expected to remain vacant.

In this situation, people concerned believe it is essential to coordinate university admission schedules alongside the initiative to hold supplementary examinations to expand access to higher education.

They say the necessary arrangements should be made to ensure that students who pass the supplementary examinations, as well as those who pass following re-scrutiny of their results, can take part in the admission race. Otherwise, despite the initiative to hold the examinations quickly, a large number of students may be deprived of a crucial opportunity to enter higher education.

When asked about the matter, Inter-Education Board Coordination Committee President and Dhaka Education Board Chairman Professor Syed Akhtaruzzaman told Prothom Alo that the entire situation had to be taken into consideration. It was the government’s goodwill that had made it possible, for the first time, for HSC candidates who failed in up to two subjects to retake the examinations within a month of the publication of results, he said.

At the same time, they also had to keep the issue of session backlogs at universities in mind. However, even if a few universities do not provide this opportunity this time, there are many other universities and colleges available. It is hoped that candidates who pass the supplementary examinations will be able to take advantage of admission opportunities at those institutions, he added.