The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) released the Class 12 results for 2026, revealing a pass percentage of 85.2%, which reflects a decline of 3.19 percentage points from the previous year's 88.39%. Out of 17,80,365 registered students, 17,68,968 appeared for the exams, with 15,07,109 passing. Girls achieved a pass rate 6.73% higher than boys, while Trivandrum district recorded the highest pass percentage at 95.62%, and Prayagraj the lowest at 72.43%. Experts attribute the decline to a combination of factors, including stricter evaluation methods and a shift towards competency-based assessments as part of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. Dr. Jyoti Arora, principal of Mount Abu Public School, noted that this trend reflects a move away from rote learning towards application-based evaluation. Praneet Mungali, a trustee at the Sanskriti Group of Schools, emphasized that the introduction of On-Screen Marking (OSM) has enhanced evaluation rigor, potentially impacting pass rates. Students can check their results through official CBSE platforms and mobile applications.