FBISE raises passing marks to 40%, introduces new 10-tier grading system

The Federal Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (FBISE) has increased the passing marks from 33% to 40% and introduced a new 10-tier grading system.

The new system will be implemented from next year’s annual examinations, an FBISE official confirmed. Currently, students need to score 33% marks in each subject to pass, but from 2026 onward, 40% will be the minimum passing requirement.

The FBISE has also replaced the old five-grade structure (A, B, C, D, E) with a new performance-based grading scale, expanding it to ten distinct levels.

This move follows a decision made last month by the Inter Board Coordination Commission (IBCC) in Islamabad.

According to the official notification, the revised grading system will come into effect from the first annual examinations of 2026 for Secondary School Certificate (SSC-I) and Higher Secondary School Certificate (HSSC-I) students, while it will be extended to SSC-II and HSSC-II levels from 2027 onward.

Under the new structure, students scoring 96%–100% will receive an A++ grade, classified as Extraordinary, while those obtaining 91%–95% will get an A+ grade under the Exceptional category.

Students with 86%–90% will be awarded an A grade (Outstanding); 81%–85% will get B++ (Excellent); 76%–80% will receive B+ (Very Good); and 71%–75% will be graded B (Good).

Those achieving 61%–70% will earn a C+ (Fairly Good) grade, while 51%–60% will receive a C grade (Above Average). Students scoring between 40% and 50% will be awarded a D grade, categorized as Emerging.

An FBISE official added that all education boards in Pakistan agreed in the IBCC meeting to adopt the new grading and passing criteria, though it remains to be seen whether every board will implement it uniformly.