The Bhutanese Leading the way.
Over the past decade, the national pass percentage in the Bhutan Higher Secondary Education Certificate (BHSEC) examinations has seen a noticeable decline, dropping from the 80–90 percent range in earlier years to the 70s this year.
The national pass percentage for Class 12 this year stands at 77.84 percent, down by about seven percentage points from last year.
A total of 9,342 candidates from 81 higher secondary schools registered for the BHSEC Class 12 examinations this year, of whom 9,273 appeared. However, only 7,218 candidates passed, meaning more than 2,000 students were unable to clear the examinations.
In terms of stream-wise performance, Arts students recorded the highest pass percentage at 91.46 percent, followed by Science at 75.68 percent and Commerce at 73.57 percent.
Of the 1,663 Arts candidates, 1,521 passed. In the Commerce stream, 2,088 out of 2,838 candidates cleared the exams, while in Science, 3,609 of the 4,772 candidates passed.
Subject-wise performance shows that many students struggled in STEM-related subjects. In Accountancy, only 855 out of 2,825 candidates passed. Similarly, in Business Mathematics, more than half the candidates failed, with just 1,480 students passing out of 3,641.
A similar trend was seen in the Science stream, where more than 1,000 candidates failed in each major subject. In Physics, Chemistry, and Biology, over a thousand students in each subject were unable to pass, indicating widespread difficulties in core Science subjects.
This makes the 2025 BHSEC Class 12 results the lowest national pass percentage in the past ten years, raising concerns over exam difficulty and student preparedness.
Following the release of the results, many students who spoke to The Bhutanese attributed their poor performance to the nature of the examination questions, saying they were significantly different from previous years.
A Class 12 student from Thimphu said she prepared thoroughly using past papers and prescribed questions.
“However, the examination questions appeared vague and not clearly aligned with our syllabus,” she said. “Despite giving my best effort, the marks awarded were far below my expectations. It has left me devastated and unsure about what to do next.”
She added that several classmates who had previously scored well also received unexpectedly low marks.
Tashi Namgay (name changed) shared similar concerns. He said many students found the continuous exam schedule overwhelming, as there were no gaps between most papers. The only break during the examination period was on 7th December, which fell on a Sunday.
He said that as a Science student, he and his classmates prepared well in advance and practised extensively using past papers.
“Yet when we appeared for the exam, many students felt it was in vain because of the type of questions,” he said. “Even many teachers were visibly upset and pointed out that the questions felt out of the syllabus. Some even mentioned concerns about the use of ChatGPT in framing the questions.”
Tashi added that future batches may find similar questions easier, as they will be trained from the beginning to handle such formats.
“For our batch, we were taught to solve questions similar to previous years. I also doubt that the marking process might have contributed to our low scores,” he said.
He shared that he scored 67 in Mathematics, which was below his expectations.
“Most of all, the questions in subjects like English and Chemistry felt AI-generated,” he said.
After the Mathematics examination, many students also expressed similar views on social media, claiming that the questions seemed “straight out of AI” and were difficult to interpret.
Another candidate, Tshering Yangzom (name changed), a Commerce student, said she failed Business Entrepreneurship by two marks. She attributed her result partly to the continuous exam schedule.
“There were no gaps between exams, so time management was difficult. I felt pressured, and it affected my performance,” she said.
Dema, a parent, also contacted this paper to inquire about rechecking and resit options. She said her son had fallen short by a few marks despite thorough preparation.
“I visited the BCSEA office, but they said there is no information about resitting. I am very worried about my son’s future,” she said.
Social media platforms were flooded with similar concerns, with many users suggesting that the questions were framed using AI tools, making them feel out of syllabus.
An official from the MoESD, when asked about the pass percentage, said it reflects overall student performance and is influenced by several factors.
“First, it often depends on the batch or cohort. Second, it also depends on the questions that are set, which can differ each year,” the official said.
With a national pass percentage of 77.84 percent, the 2025 Class 12 results mark the lowest in a decade. While the ministry attributes performance to multiple factors, students, parents, and social media users have raised concerns over question patterns and exam scheduling.
In contrast, the Class 8 pass percentage improved to 76.98 percent this year, up from 71.45 percent in 2024 and 56.38 percent in 2022.
Regarding public allegations that questions were AI-generated and concerns about the lack of breaks between exams, the paper is yet to receive a response from the MoESD.
