SSC 2026: Exams begin on Apr 21 as boards announce timetable

Each theory exam will run for three hours, from 10am to 1pm, with practical to follow from Jun 7-14

The 2026 Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examinations are scheduled to begin on Apr 21, with theoretical papers continuing until May 20.

Each theory exam will run for three hours, from 10am to 1pm. Practical exams will follow from Jun 7-14.

The Inter-Board Coordination Committee approved the SSC examination timetable on Thursday, as the Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education, Dhaka released the schedule.

Under the timetable, candidates must enter the exam hall at least 30 minutes before the start of the exam.

Admit cards must be collected from the heads of each institution at least three days before the examinations begin.

Students will have to pass the theoretical, multiple-choice and practical components separately.

Candidates will be allowed to use a general scientific calculator in the centres.

No one other than the centre secretary will be permitted to bring or use a mobile phone inside the examination centre.

The schedule also clarifies that the SSC and equivalent examinations for regular candidates in 2026 will be held on a shortened syllabus. However, irregular and improvement candidates will sit the examinations on the full syllabus.

Students appearing as regular candidates this year studied under the new curriculum in ninth grade, which was later scrapped. After the curriculum was withdrawn in Sept 2024, they completed Class 10 under the 2012 curriculum, including the reinstated group-based divisions.

As a result, their SSC examinations will be conducted on a shortened syllabus.

In contrast, candidates appearing as irregular or improvement examinees studied both ninth and tenth grade under the 2012 curriculum. Their SSC examinations will therefore be based on the full syllabus.

The “new curriculum” introduced during the tenure of the then Awami League government had removed group divisions at the secondary level.

The interim government officially cancelled the curriculum on Sept 1, 2024, restoring group divisions for Class 10 students from the current academic year.

At the time of scrapping the curriculum, the Secondary and Higher Education Division of the education ministry had announced that the 2026 SSC and equivalent examinations would be held on a shortened syllabus.

Following the reintroduction of group divisions, the National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) published the shortened syllabus, question pattern and mark distribution for the 2026 SSC examinations on Dec 28, 2024.

A revised syllabus for Bangla, with minor changes, was later released in January last year.