BENGALURU: Students from Karnataka Residential Pre-University Colleges under the Karnataka Residential Educational Institutions Society (KREIS) recorded an impressive 97.22% pass percentage in 2026, up from 91.64% in 2025, marking an increase of 5.58 percentage points.
Out of the 72 residential PU colleges, as many as 34 achieved 100% results. Of the 5,103 students who appeared for the exams, 4,961 cleared, while 142 did not pass.
Among those who cleared the exams, 2,321 students secured distinction, 2,487 passed with first class, 160 with second class, and 14 with pass class.
Addressing the media, Social Welfare Minister HC Mahadevappa said Ankit Bheemappa Karatgi of Morarji Desai Science PU Residential College emerged as the topper from the residential institutions, scoring 598 out of 600 and securing second rank in the state.
“We will provide a Rs 5 lakh scholarship to support his higher education as he comes from a poor background. His parents are daily wage labourers and such students deserve support,” the Minister said.
He added that the residential colleges’ pass percentage is 10.74 percentage points higher than the state average of 86.48%.
On students who did not clear the first exam, he said teachers are already preparing them for Exam 2, and they will be allowed to continue staying in hostels for preparation.
Like previous years, girls outperformed boys, with more than 50% of the successful candidates being girls, he said. Students who performed well will be felicitated on the birth anniversary of Dr B.R. Ambedkar on April 14.
KREIS, along with the Department of Social Welfare, has also been training students for competitive exams such as JEE, NEET and KCET. This year, 106 students cleared the first round of JEE.
“Earlier, only a few residential college students were trained for these exams. From this year, the training has been extended to all 72 colleges so that students are not deprived of opportunities to enter premier institutions such as IITs, IIMs, IISc and AIIMS,” he added.