Nepal’s National Examinations Board has published the results of the Secondary Education Examination 2082, with 65.98 per cent of students securing graded results. While the figure marks an improvement of 4.17 percentage points over the previous year’s pass rate of 61.81 per cent, it means that more than one in three of the 430,667 students who sat the examinations did not meet the minimum grade threshold required to proceed to higher secondary education.
A total of 284,160 students achieved graded results. The remaining 146,507 were categorised as non-graded, meaning they fell below the required standard in one or more subjects. The results were published 29 days after the completion of the examinations, which were held from 2 April to 12 April 2026, a significantly faster turnaround than in previous years, when results typically took close to three months.
Ministry of Education Secretary Chunamani Paudel said the accelerated timeline was made possible by evaluating answer sheets directly at examination centres rather than transporting them to central checking facilities. He added that the government had committed to publishing SEE results within a month of the examination’s conclusion, and that this year’s timeline honoured that commitment.
Among students who passed, 48,392 achieved the highest GPA range of 3.60 to 4.00, while 80,372 scored between 3.20 and 3.60, and 94,222 between 2.80 and 3.20.
The provincial breakdown reveals a stark disparity. Madhesh Province recorded the highest number of non-graded students at 31,725 out of 76,317 examinees, a failure rate of roughly 42 per cent that reflects longstanding gaps in educational infrastructure, teacher availability, and household income levels across the province. Lumbini Province recorded 27,893 non-graded students, and Bagmati Province 21,704.
Education expert Dr Bidyanath Koirala attributed the improved national pass rate to three factors: intensive school-based preparation programmes before the examinations, on-site answer sheet evaluation, and students’ greater familiarity with the question format. He cautioned, however, that the improvement in aggregate figures should not obscure the situation of those left behind. “The government now needs to think about what opportunities can be created for these students and how they can become self-reliant,” he said.
The board has opened a re-totalling window from 15 May to 21 May for students who wish to contest their results. Supplementary examinations for non-graded students are scheduled from 15 June to 23 June.