The Inter Boards Coordination Commission has decided to introduce a grading system instead of marks system for matric and intermediate examinations across the country.

The system has first been introduced in Sindh where students of grades 9 and 11 will be awarded grades instead of marks in 2024.

The system will be extended to grades 10 and 12 in 2025.

A new 10-point grading system with five rankings will be introduced for students. IBCC also said that the word ‘fail’ will not be mentioned anywhere on the students’ mark sheets.

However, along with the new system, the passing mark threshold will also be raised from 33% to 40%.

IBCC Chairman Ghulam Ali Mallah said that the hope is to take the passing percentage to 50% eventually.

He added that most countries in the world employ the grade system while Pakistan is still stuck with the marks system. He also said that IBCC wished to take students out of a race for marks.

Additionally, the IBCC has also decided to take away the ‘supplementary’ tag placed on students who retake exams in which they have performed well. From now on, the retaken exams will simply be labelled annual exams.