Bengaluru: Approximately 62.3% of the nearly nine lakh candidates who took the SSLC Exam 1, held in March-April this year, have passed. The results were announced by the department of school education and literacy here on Friday.
Last year, only two students had secured 625 out of 625. This time, though, a record 22 students have managed to score the maximum. Two of the highest-scoring students are from govt schools, while the list of 22 toppers includes 16 girl students.
Dakshina Kannada emerged the best among districts with 91% students clearing the exam.
However, there are 144 schools across the state, including six govt schools, where none of the students have passed. “We will push these schools to ensure they come up a better show in SSLC-2 and 3 exams,” education minister Madhu Bangarappa said.
The pass rate for this year is less by about 10 percentage points compared to the 73% recorded in 2024. However, to put things in perspective, this 73% was an improvement on the initial pass percentage of 54%, only after 20 grace marks were awarded to students across the board.
“The chief minister [Siddaramaiah] had clearly said there would be no grace marks this time. Instead, he directed us to focus on classroom teaching and learning. In view of that, the department drew up a slew of remedial measures – from completing the syllabus by Dec-Jan, to appointing guest teachers, to conducting special evening classes, with zilla panchayat CEOs directly monitoring the work,” Bangarappa explained.
“Out of the total students who have passed this year, 75% have got first class and distinction, securing more than 69% marks,” the minister said, adding that his department was happy with the students’ overall performance this year, considering the dismal initial pass percentage of 54% last year.
BOX
Pass percentages:
Regular candidates (fresh) — 66.1
Private candidates (fresh) — 8.2
Regular repeaters — 1.9
Private repeaters — 5
Overall — 62.3
Gender-wise pass percentages (fresh):
Boys — 58.1
Girls — 74
MSID:: 120821519 413 |

New Delhi: Celebrating creativity and imagination, The Times of India’s Newspaper in Education (NIE) programme, in collaboration with Jockey Juniors, has successfully concluded the second edition of the Jockey Juniors Colour Splash contest. The nationwide initiative was designed to uncover and nurture budding artistic talent among children aged 6 to 12 years.
With the theme, My Happy Place, the event was organised in two phases—an online contest that attracted nearly 11,000 entries and an offline drawing competition that brought together over 4,000 students from approximately 5,000 schools.
Held in six cities — Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata and Hyderabad — the competition spanned two age categories: sub-junior (6-9 years) and juniors (10-12 years). The offline phase also included interactive sessions on nutrition and wellness led by experts, giving parents valuable insights into holistic health and child development.
One of the key highlights was a virtual Meet & Greet session held with the select winners and participants of the online contest. They came face-to-face with Jija M Harisingh, south India’s first woman IPS officer, an artist and a social activist. The session focused on the power of creative expression and the role of art in everyday life.
The campaign culminated in the felicitation ceremonies at Jockey exclusive stores, where winners from each city—Vanshika Jha from Vishwa Bharati Public School in Delhi, Naira Poddar from Sherwood High in Bengaluru, Heer Gala from NES International School in Mumbai, Krisha from Delhi Public School in Hyderabad, Arka Roy from South End School in Kolkata and S Thiyakshwa from SBOA School & Junior College in Chennai—were honoured with personalised Jockey Juniors T-shirts showcasing their original artwork.
Nihal Rajan, chief marketing officer of Page Industries, said, “Creativity is at the heart of everything we do. We are thrilled to offer young talent a platform to shine and build meaningful connections with both children and parents.”