BHUBANESWAR: Girls outshone boys across all streams in the Annual Higher Secondary Examination (AHSE) 2026, as Odisha registered an overall pass percentage of 85.85, marking an improvement of more than three percentage points over last year.
The results of the Plus II examinations conducted by the Council of Higher Secondary Education were announced on Wednesday by School and Mass Education minister Nityananda Gond. This year, over 3.98 lakh students appeared for the examinations held between February 18 and April 25. Of them, around 3.41 lakh students passed successfully. The overall pass percentage increased from 82.77 in 2025 to 85.85 this year.
Among the streams, Science recorded the highest success rate at 88.82 per cent, followed by Commerce at 88.07 per cent and Arts at 84.50 per cent. The Vocational stream registered a pass percentage of 77.62.
Girls performed better than boys in every stream. In Arts, girls achieved a pass percentage of 89.45 compared to 77.97 among boys. In Science, girls recorded a success rate of 90.24 against 87.41 for boys. In Commerce, 90.43 per cent girls cleared the examination compared to 86.67 per cent boys. In the Vocational stream too, girls outperformed boys with a pass percentage of 83.43 against 71.49.
A total of 5,101 students in the Science stream secured 90 per cent and above marks. In Arts, 614 students scored above 90 per cent, while 568 students in Commerce crossed the same benchmark.
District-wise, Sambalpur recorded the highest overall pass percentage at 89.48, while Nabarangpur registered the lowest at 77.14 per cent. In Science, Balasore topped with a 96.63 pass percentage, while Koraput recorded the lowest at 77.14 per cent. Boudh achieved a perfect 100 per cent result in Commerce, whereas Balangir registered the lowest at 77.25 per cent.
In the Vocational stream, Nabarangpur secured 100 per cent results while Dhenkanal recorded the lowest at 55.22 per cent.
CHSE officials said the examinations were conducted smoothly across 1,487 Arts, 1,146 Science, 415 Commerce and 226 Vocational institutions in the state.
The minister also announced that the Plus II instant examination and the newly introduced improvement examination will be conducted simultaneously in the first week of July.
Controller of Examinations of CHSE Prasanta Kumar Parida said students securing a minimum of 210 marks and failing in one subject would be eligible to appear for the instant examination. Students who have already passed the examination can appear for the improvement test.
Under the new norms, students clearing the main examination will be allowed to reappear in any one paper of their choice to improve their scores. CHSE officials said the results of the instant and improvement examinations will be declared by the last week of July.
Success story
Overall pass percentage rises to 85.85%
Girls outperform boys across all streams; highest gap in Arts (89.45% girls vs 77.97% boys)
Science stream tops with 88.82% pass rate; Commerce records 88.07%, Arts 84.50%
5,101 Science students score 90% and above; Arts (614) and Commerce (568) also shine
Sambalpur emerges top district overall with 89.48% pass rate
CHSE to hold instant & improvement exams in July