“Almost 100 per cent” candidates have crossed the higher secondary barrier this year, the state HS council announced on Friday following a review of the marks of the 18,000 students who were initially declared unsuccessful.

The council had announced on July 22, when the plus-II results were announced, that 97.69 per cent of the 8,19,202 candidates had cleared higher secondary.

The council had to devise a methodology to assess the candidates as the school-leaving exams were scrapped this year because of Covid.

Mahua Das, the president of West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education, on Monday said the pass percentage rose to “almost 100 per cent” after the council decided to pass the unsuccessful candidates on compassionate grounds.

“Previously, the pass percentage was 97.69 per cent. Now the pass percentage has gone up to almost 100 per cent. 18,000 students who had appealed to the council after being declared unsuccessful have now passed…. We got them passed after awarding the minimum marks on grounds of compassion. The state government had advised us to consider the appeals favourably,” Das said.

Out of 500, a student has to score at least 150 (30 per cent) to pass HS.

The council announced the jump in pass percentage on a day submission of online applications for undergraduate admissions started across the state.

The top brass of the state government had decided on July 26 to depute officials to speak to unsuccessful examinees across the state and assure them that their grievances would be addressed by July 30. Sources said the move followed a realisation that agitations by unsuccessful students would send a wrong message about the evaluation process.

All 10,79,749 candidates cleared Madhyamik this year.