University and Medical Admission Tests May Be Postponed

Vice-chancellors and senior officials of the Health Ministry have given preliminary consent to delaying admission tests to accommodate students who failed the 2026 HSC examinations. Universities will discuss the matter further and decide how long the tests should be postponed.

University and medical admission tests for the 2026-27 academic session may be postponed following a preliminary agreement among university vice-chancellors and senior officials of the Health Ministry, as the government prepares to hold supplementary examinations for students who failed the Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) and equivalent examinations.

The decision was discussed at a meeting titled 'Discussion on Re-evaluation of Answer Scripts and Holding Supplementary Examinations for HSC and Equivalent Examinations-2026' at the Ministry of Education's conference room on Tuesday (November 3). Primary and Mass Education Minister Dr ANM Ehsanul Haque Milon attended the meeting as the chief guest, along with senior officials from the ministry and its subordinate departments.

According to sources present at the meeting, the Education Minister pressed university vice-chancellors to postpone the admission tests. However, they were initially reluctant to agree to the proposal.

A senior official who attended the meeting told The Daily Campus on condition of anonymity that all admission tests, including medical admission examinations, could be postponed. Although some vice-chancellors and officials were unwilling to delay the examinations, they gave preliminary consent following the minister's request.

The official added that, under the meeting's decision, universities would hold further discussions and subsequently inform the authorities how long the admission tests would be postponed.

The meeting was attended by Secondary and Higher Education Division Senior Secretary Abdul Khaleque, University Grants Commission (UGC) Chairman Professor Dr Mamun Ahmed, Dhaka University Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr ABM Obaidul Islam and Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education (DSHE) Director General Professor Dr Khan Moinuddin Al Mahmud Sohel, among others.

The government has decided to allow students who failed in one or two subjects in this year's HSC and equivalent examinations to sit for supplementary examinations. Around 600,000 students failed this year's examinations, with the overall pass rate standing at 52.12%, the lowest in 22 years.

For the first time, the government is offering more than 400,000 unsuccessful candidates an opportunity to sit for supplementary examinations. The preliminary decision is to hold the examinations in the first week of December and publish the results by the end of the same month.

The initiative is intended to give students who pass the supplementary examinations an opportunity to enrol in higher education during the current academic session.

Meanwhile, admission tests for the 2026-27 academic session are scheduled to begin on December 4. Medical and dental admission tests are due to be held nationwide on that day, while Dhaka University's admission tests are scheduled to begin on December 5.

Admission tests at other universities are expected to take place between December and March next year. The proposed postponement could therefore affect the existing admission schedule across the country.