CHENNAI: As is the trend, the Class 12 examination results released on Friday showed a marginal increase in Tamil Nadu’s pass percentage compared to last year, with 95.20% of students clearing the examinations. However, the number of centums recorded this year has crashed across all major subjects by more than 40%.
Last year, the state recorded a pass percentage of 95.03%; this year’s was 0.17% higher. Of the 7.91 lakh students who wrote the examination, 7.53 lakh cleared it. Girls continued to outperform boys with a pass percentage of 97% against 93.19% for the boys.
Government schools improved their overall pass percentage from 91.94% to 92.16%, while that of aided schools rose from 95.71% to 96.14%. The number of government schools securing 100% results also increased from 436 to 489. Erode emerged as the top-performing district with a pass percentage of 98.87%, replacing Ariyalur from last year.
According to the school education department, the total number of students securing centums in at least one subject plummeted from 26,887 in 2025 to 16,024 in 2026, a fall of 10,863. Among government school students, the number fell from 2,853 to 1,695 centums. The decline was visible across almost every major subject.
Computer Science, which traditionally records the highest number of centums, saw the biggest fall. While 9,536 students secured full marks in the subject in 2025, the number dropped to 6,945 this year.
The decline was proportionately steeper in Chemistry, with centums falling from 3,181 to just 632. Mathematics centums dropped from 3,022 to 732, while Physics saw a fall from 1,125 to 105. Commerce centums reduced from 1,624 to 683.
Arts stream records notable improvement, rises to 85.19%
Even Computer Applications, another high-scoring subject last year, saw centums nearly halve from 4,208 last year to 2,099 this year.
This sharp reduction comes despite the pass percentages in these subjects remaining extremely high. Computer Science recorded a pass percentage of 99.84%, Biology 99.49%, Mathematics 99.12% and Chemistry 98.82%.
Officials and teachers said the school education department had tightened the process to award full marks following the controversies flagged in recent years over unusually high numbers of full scores emerging from certain schools, particularly private institutions in districts such as Cuddalore and Villupuram, in subjects including Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics and Biology.
Moreover, this year, the directorate of government examinations had instructed all camp officers involved in the evaluation process for Class 10 and 12 board examinations to specifically review and sign off on answer scripts awarded centums before finalisation of marks.
The pass percentage in the science stream remained largely stable, marginally dipping from 96.99% in 2025 to 96.90% this year, while the commerce stream performance remained almost unchanged at 92.67% compared to 92.68% last year. Meanwhile, the arts stream recorded a notable improvement, with the pass percentage rising from 82.90% to 85.19%.
Vocational courses saw a similar improvement from 84.22% to 85.97%.
There was also a sharp drop in the pass percentage among candidates with disabilities. While 93.10% of disabled students cleared the examinations in 2025, the pass percentage dropped to 76.92% this year despite more candidates appearing for the examination.
Aside from Erode, Sivaganga, Kanniyakumari, Tirunelveli and Tiruchy rounded off the top five districts. Ariyalur, which was in the top position with 98.82% students clearing the exams last year, dropped to the 33rd position with 91.70%.
Overall, government schools recorded the lowest pass percentage of 92.16%, followed by aided schools with 96.14%, and private schools with 98.72%.
Tribal schools continue steady improvement
Among government-managed schools, the tribal welfare schools in the state recorded one of the highest pass percentages (97.33%) this year, continuing their steady improvement over the past three years. The pass percentage stood at 95.50% in 2025 and 95.15% in 2024.
