CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu continued its steady rise in Class 10 board exam performance in 2026, recording a pass percentage of 94.31%, a marginal increase of 0.51 percentage points from 93.80% last year, according to the results released by the Directorate of Government Examinations on Wednesday.
Of the 8,70,643 students from 12,467 schools who appeared for the exam this year, 8,21,105 cleared it. However, the number of students taking the examinations has steadily declined over the past three years, from 8.94 lakh in 2024 to 8.71 lakh in 2025 and 8.70 lakh in 2026. A total of 11,174 students were absent in 2026 compared to 15,652 in 2025.
Continuing the long-standing trend, girls outperformed boys with a pass percentage of 96.47% against 92.15%, creating a gender gap of 4.32 percentage points. The gap, which stood at 5.95 points in 2024, narrowed to 4.14 in 2025, then widened slightly this year.
A total of 5,171 schools, including 1,931 government schools, recorded a 100% pass rate, while 8,233 schools, including 3,463 government schools, achieved pass percentages of 95% or above.
Among districts, Pudukkottai emerged as the state topper with a pass percentage of 97.57%, followed closely by Sivaganga (97.54%) and Thanjavur (97.41%). Pudukkottai, which recorded 91.84% in 2024 and 93.53% in 2025, showed significant improvement to secure the top position.
In contrast, Ariyalur, which topped the state in 2024 with 97.31%, slipped sharply to the 37th position with 87.55%. The district had ranked eighth in 2025 with 96.38%.
TN girls’ schools log 96.42% pass in Class 10 against boys’ 88.50%
Ariyalur also witnessed a similar decline in Class 12 results, falling from first place with 98.82% to 33rd position with 91.70% pass percentage. Chennai too remained below the state average, though its performance improved steadily from 88.21% in 2024 to 90.73% in 2025 and 92.34% in 2026.
The data also highlighted the relatively poor performance of boys-only schools compared to girls’ and co-educational institutions. While girls’ schools recorded a pass percentage of 96.42% and co-educational schools 94.42%, boys’ schools managed only 88.50%. However, this marks a steady improvement from 87.84% in 2025 and 83.17% in 2024.
The gender gap was particularly high in government schools, which worsened this year. The gap in government schools stood at 6.08 percentage points compared to the overall state gap of 4.32 points. It was 8.09 in 2024 and 5.61 in 2025. In government schools in Ranipet (14.11%), Villupuram (11.789%), Krishnagiri (9.488%), Mayiladuthurai (8.42%) and Ariyalur (8.362%), the pass percentage of boys dropped below 80%.
The lowest boys pass percentage was recorded in Ranipet at 76.6%. In Chennai, the difference was 7.73% and Tiruvallur 8.84%. In contrast, the gap in private schools remained low at 1.586 percentage points. Among school categories, private schools maintained their lead with a 98.14% pass percentage, followed by aided schools at 94.34% and government schools at 91.86%.
The performance of government schools has steadily improved from 87.90% in 2024 and 91.26% in 2025.Among subjects, English recorded the highest pass percentage at 99.44%, followed by Tamil (98.43%), Science (98%), Social Science (97.93%) and Mathematics (97.36%).
Overall, 17,132 students, including 2,774 from government schools, scored a centum in at least one subject. Meanwhile, the performance of students with disabilities showed a worrying decline, with their pass percentage dropping to 85.89% in 2026 from 92.83% in 2025 and 92.45% in 2024.
Supplementary exam to be conducted from July 8 to 15
Students can apply for their provisional marksheets from May 22. Applications for scanned copies of answer sheets can be submitted from May 22 to 27, while applications for re-totalling and re-valuation will be accepted from June 17 to 19. Supplementary examinations for students who failed will be held from July 8 to 15, and applications for the exams can be submitted between May 26 and June 9.
