CBSE Class 12 Result Pass Percentage Dips to 85.20 pc for 2026! Human Bias Removed by OSM or Something Bigger

CBSE Class 12 Result: Central Board of Secondary Education, CBSE has declared the Class 12 board examination 2026 results on the official website cbse.gov.in. Keeping with its timeline, the central board has released the 12th results today - May 13, 2026 - third year in a row. However, this year the pass percentage has dipped from 88% to 85%. This drastic dip raises question if OSM or on-screen marking was responsible for the shift.

In comparison to 2025, only a marginal rise in students was seen. In 2025, 17.04 lakh students had appeared for the Class 12 board examination. In 2026, this number increased to 17.80 lakh students. However, the pass percentage dipped from 88.39% to 85.20%. This dip, however, was not truly unexpected. Teachers had warned that with the introduction of on-screen marking, the pass percentage is likely to drop. 

Also Read | CBSE Revaluation 2026 Process Revised for Class 12 

Past Trends on CBSE Pass Percentage

Historically, pass percentage for CBSE has remained between 80% to 90%. Over the past decade, however, a surge was noticed in the pass percentage, even with the number of students steadily rising. 

As can be seen from the table, the number of students for Class 12 in CBSE has risen by about 75% in the past decade. From about 9.7 lakh students, over 17.80 lakh students appeared for the board examination this year. This number has been steadily rising, and surprising, so was the pass percentage. 

The first sharp rise, however, was witnessed in 2018 and 2019 when the objective type questions were introduced by the board. It was seen as a positive signal. This was also the time where result moderation was said to have been done to normalize the scores and give students the benefit for extremely difficult question or discrepancy in the various sets of question paper. 

Discounting the COVID years, when the board examinations were not conducted in the same manner and all students were largely promoted, the pass percentage showed a steady increase again, rising sharply from 83% in 2019 to 87% in 2023. The number of students also increased from about 12 lakhs to 16.80 lakhs. 

The pas percentage, however, stayed rather steady within the range since 2023. In three previous years, CBSE 12th pass percentage has infact shown slight improvement from 87.33% to 88.39%. This year, however, the pass percentage has dipped drastically to 85.20%. In terms of  absolute number of students, in comparison to pre-2019 time, the number of students failing the examination has increased. 

Reasons for Drop in Pass Percentage

There is no imperial formula that can suggest the true reason for the decline in the pass percentage this year. However, if the past trends are analysed, one would notice that the dip can be largely attributed to two major factors.

• More Focus on Conceptual Learning: Over the past few years, CBSE has been shifting the focus of the examination to more conceptual learning vis a vis rote learning. In an attempt to achieve that, the board’s exam pattern has seen a massive shift towards both objective questions and reasoning questions. The weight attributed to these type of questions has also increased. 

• Change in marking pattern: From 2026, CBSE introduced the on-screen marking or OSM for class 12 result computation. While it should not truly make much change, teachers pointed out that the OSM created a concern which was initially voiced.

In the process, teachers were required to check the photocopies of the answer sheets of class 12 students uploaded on a server. At the onset, teachers pointed out that the sheets were blurred and there were concerns. 

“Reading from a physical copy is a little different from reading a virtual copy. Sometimes the word is not really legible and it creates confusion.” A senior teacher had pointed out. 

Moreover, teachers also shared that human checking also provided a certain cushion to students. While strictly it is not allowed, it was a general practice where teachers were known to make slight modifications that would help students cross the minimum passing criteria. While the practice was not acknowledged by the board, teachers were known to take a sympathetic view. Considered a malpractice, teachers were often advised against but this was still a practice that was being widely followed.  

With the introduction of OSM, this practice was completely removed. Teachers had shared their concerns and pointed out that while the changes were often small, a number here or there often helped students in the larger scheme of things. 

Whether OSM was good or bad is a debate that can be discussed. Ethically and morally, giving an added advantage to one student is detrimental and unfair to another student who has put in extra effort. Truly, condoning with malpractice is not the intent. However, when considering the importance of one mark, sometimes one is left wondering if too much technology is removing the human aspect of evaluation of students. Share your thoughts with us and mail us if you have a point of view. 

To all the students who have passed - congratulations. And to those who haven’t…remember this is just a small hurdle and does not define your life. All the best!