Mandya: M.P. Dheeraj Reddy of Sri Sathyasai Saraswathi English Medium Boys’ School in Mandya is among the six students in the State who have scored 625 out of 625 in the SSLC exam, results of which were announced yesterday. 

The other five State toppers are: Sannidhi Mahabaleshwar Hegde of Marikamba PU College, Sirsi, K.S. Chirayu of Schoenstatt St. Mary’s High School, Nikhilesh N. Murali of Poorna Prajna Education Centre, A.L. Anush from Kumaraswamy English Medium High School in Subramanya, Dakshina Kannada and P. Thanmayi of St. Joseph’s Convent Girls High School, Chikkamagaluru.

The Primary and Secondary Education Department announced the results of the examination that was held in June-July.  The State’s pass percentage dipped to 71.80% from 73.70% the previous year. Out of the 8,11,050 students, 5,82,316 students have cleared the exam, while 18,067 candidates remained absent due to the pandemic. In a remarkable feat, six students scored full marks.

This year, the Department introduced a grading system instead of rankings for districts. In the new system, 10 districts, including Chikkaballapura and Bengaluru Rural, received A grade, 20 districts got B grade and four districts C grade.

Like every year, girls outshined boys with a pass percentage of 77.74% compared to 66.41% for boys. Rural students have fared better than their urban counterparts with 77.18% as against 73.41% by urban students. While 11 students scored 624 marks,  43 scored 623, 56 scored 622, 68 secured 621 and 117 scored 620 marks out of 625.

The Karnataka Secondary Education Examination Board said it would issue provisional marks cards from Tuesday.