Grace marks for matric, inter increased

IBCC takes step in line with new grading policy

KARACHI:

The Inter Boards Coordination Commission (IBCC) has increased the grace marks from three to five under the new grading formula which has raised passing marks to 40 against 33 in the past.

Therefore, like in the past, if students had secured 30 marks the checker could give three marks to 'just pass' them, however, now the checker may give five grace marks to push the candidate to the pass status.

The decision will be applied to matriculation and intermediate examination results across the country from the 2025 examinations.

The decision was made on Monday on the first day of the two-day meeting held by IBCC, in which the chairmen of education boards across the country participated in addition to Executive Director IBCC Ghulam Ali Mallah and education officers of the four provinces.

Sources of IBCC told The Express Tribune that an education board had recommended increasing the grace marks for matric and inter levels to seven, but the majority of the participants of the meeting were not satisfied with the proposal, after which it was decided to increase the existing grace marks from three to five. These marks can be given in a maximum of two subjects. However, in case of failure of the candidate in any third subject, these marks will not be permitted.

Uniform standard for exams

The meeting also reviewed the progress of Model Assessment Framework (MAF), the purpose of which is to bring the examination system across the country to a uniform standard. The meeting also approved the establishment of digital question item bank.

According to the IBCC statement, the forum took important decisions to provide equal opportunities in education. These include approval of concession in education fees to orphan students and proposal to add an "orphan status" box in the examination form. Additionally, the meeting discussed the harmonization of the admission schedule of medical and dental colleges. All the provinces agreed to conduct the exams in March/April and declare the results in June/July.