CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu achieved a strong 94.3% pass rate in the Class 10 State board examinations, School Education Minister Rajmohan announced in Chennai on Wednesday, May 20, 2026. The latest figure marks an improvement over the previous year’s 93.8% success rate.
District-level performance highlighted strong results across several regions. Pudukottai led the State with a remarkable 97.57% pass percentage, closely followed by Sivaganga at 97.54% and Thanjavur at 97.41%. However, the overall number of students appearing for the exams declined compared to the previous year from 8,71,239 to 8,70,643 this year.
Girls continue to outperform boys
A total of 12,467 schools participated, with 4,19,891 girls and 4,01,214 boys taking the examinations. Girls recorded a higher pass percentage of 96.47%, compared to 92.15% for boys. Additionally, 11,174 students did not appear for the exams.
The Minister congratulated students, teachers, and parents, underscoring the foundational importance of education for the State. Of the participating schools, 5,171 achieved a perfect 100% pass rate, including 1,931 government schools.
Subject-wise centum scorers showed notable achievements. As many as 10,476 students secured full marks in science, 3,336 in social science, and 3,194 in mathematics a significant rise from 1,996 centum scorers in mathematics the previous year. In Tamil, however, only 34 students achieved full marks.
Private schools posted the highest pass rate at 98.14%, while girls-only schools followed with 96.42%. Special categories also performed credibly: out of 13,292 candidates with disabilities who appeared, 11,416 passed. Among 370 prison inmates who wrote the exams, 354 cleared them successfully.
The Directorate of Government Examinations has announced that supplementary examinations for Class 10 will begin on July 8. Students who pass these will be eligible for higher education in the current academic year. Provisional marksheets will be available from May 22, while applications for downloading scanned answer sheets can be made through schools. Revaluation applications will open on June 17.