2027 SSC Exams to Begin January 7, Leaving Less Time After Test Exams

The 2027 SSC and equivalent examinations will begin on January 7, leaving students less than two months between their school-level test examinations and the public exams. The Inter-Education Board Coordination Committee says the schedule will not be changed.

Under the 2026 academic calendar, SSC test or selection examinations will run from October 28 to November 10, with results to be published by November 18. This means students will have about one month and 26 days between the publication of their test results and the start of the SSC exams. In previous years, students generally had around two and a half to three months to prepare after test examinations.

Professor Syed Akhtaruzzaman, president of the Inter-Education Board Coordination Committee and chairman of the Dhaka Education Board, told The Daily Campus that the January schedule would remain unchanged.

“Government-declared schedule will be followed for the 2027 SSC examination. The syllabus must be completed before conducting the test examination. There is no scope for postponing the examination,” he said.

The issue has become a concern for some students, parents and teachers, particularly because the 2027 SSC candidates will sit for examinations under the full syllabus. Several institutions in Dhaka, including Missionary School and Motijheel Ideal School and College, are preparing to hold their test examinations from the second week of October after completing the syllabus. Students at these institutions would therefore get around two months before the SSC exams.

Most institutions outside the well-known schools, however, are expected to follow the academic calendar and hold their test examinations from October 28 to November 10. Some may only complete their syllabus around October and hold the tests towards the end of the month or in early November.

A few parents, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the 2027 SSC candidates had received all their board textbooks only in April 2025. They argued that the January examination would leave students with limited preparation time, particularly amid political instability and teachers’ movements that had disrupted the education environment.

“Since the 2027 SSC candidates will sit for examinations under the full syllabus, it would be better if their examinations began in the last week of February instead of January,” they said.

Brother Placid Peter Rebeiro CSE, principal of St Gregory’s High School and College in Dhaka, said his institution would finish the syllabus within the scheduled time and begin its test examinations in the second week of October.

“This gives our students enough time. If other institutions take the test examinations at the end of October or beginning of November, their students will have somewhat less time,” he told The Daily Campus.

He said there was no major problem with conducting the test examinations after completing the syllabus, but added that it would have been better if the January schedule had been introduced from the following year so institutions could have prepared in advance.

Several teachers at an Army-run educational institution in the capital, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the January 7 schedule had reduced the time available after the test examinations and made it difficult to complete the syllabus.

Heads of several educational institutions in Mymensingh division also expressed concern. They said rural students often needed more preparation time than students in urban areas and that the shorter period could leave many of them inadequately prepared.

A teacher at Motijheel Ideal School and College, who asked to be identified as Tamim, a pseudonym, said bringing the examination forward was not necessarily a bad decision because his institution planned to hold the test examination in the second week of October. “However, many institutions in the capital will not be able to hold the test examination even towards the end of October because they will not be able to finish the syllabus,” he said.

The Inter-Education Board Coordination Committee president acknowledged that the shorter preparation period was a consequence of starting the examination in early January.

“Since the test or selection examination is being held after completing the syllabus, I hope there will be no problem. Everyone will have to make some adjustment,” Professor Akhtaruzzaman said.

He also argued that keeping the academic calendar on schedule was important because repeated delays cost students valuable time. “Every year, four to five months of students’ lives are being lost in the case of SSC and six to seven months in the case of HSC. As a result, students who want to enrol abroad face obstacles,” he said.

He further added the government’s initiative to restore a more regular academic calendar should receive support, adding that social and political disruptions and disasters had repeatedly prevented educational activities from being completed on time.

The 2026 SSC examination began on April 21, while the HSC examinations began on July 2. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, SSC examinations were generally held in early February and HSC examinations in early April.