Over 500,000 students fail matric exams nationwide, Punjab records highest failure rate

The Inter-Board Coordination Commission has released a detailed report on the Matriculation Annual Examinations 2025, revealing that more than 500,000 students failed across the country, raising concerns over academic performance and education standards.

According to the report, the highest failure rate was recorded in nine education boards of Punjab. A total of over 1.226 million students appeared in matriculation exams in the province, of which more than 358,000 failed.

In the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education Lahore, 253,000 candidates appeared for the exams, with 87,419 students unable to pass.

In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, around 444,000 students took the exams under eight education boards, with 80,558 failures recorded.

The results were comparatively better in Sindh, where six education boards reported around 450,000 candidates, of whom approximately 51,000 failed.

In Quetta under the Balochistan board, 78,839 students appeared in the examinations, with 9,797 failing.

The Federal Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education also showed relatively improved results, where 15,798 students failed out of a total of 137,000 candidates.

The report has sparked debate among education stakeholders, highlighting the need for reforms to address learning gaps and improve student outcomes nationwide.