Important
The JSC examination is no longer held. It was last held in 2019, was suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic, and was scrapped permanently in January 2023 together with the equivalent Junior Dakhil Certificate (JDC). No public exam replaced it for all students: Class 8 students are now promoted on the results of their own school's annual exams. Since 2025 the education boards also run a separate Junior Scholarship Examination for a selected group of Class 8 students, which is not the JSC.
Overview
The Junior School Certificate (JSC) was a public examination in Bangladesh taken at the end of Class 8, after eight years of schooling. It was run by the country's education boards and came before the Secondary School Certificate (SSC). An equivalent exam, the Junior Dakhil Certificate (JDC), ran alongside it. Both exams were introduced in 2010.
The last JSC was held in 2019. It was not held in 2020 and 2021 because of the pandemic, or in 2022. In January 2023, with the Prime Minister's approval, the government scrapped the JSC and JDC permanently, because the new national curriculum being introduced from 2023 did not include a board exam at this stage.
No official page about the JSC could be found, so this page relies on news reports and Wikipedia.
Marking and results
Results were reported as a grade point average (GPA) on a 5-point scale. Each subject received a grade point, from A+ (80 to 100 marks, grade point 5.00) down to F (0 to 32 marks, grade point 0.00), with D, C, B, A- and A in between.
What replaced it
There is no public exam for all Class 8 students. They move up to Class 9 based on their own school's annual examinations.
In September 2025 the government announced a separate Junior Scholarship Examination for Class 8, run by the education boards. Unlike the JSC, it is not open to every student: only about 25% of Class 8 students qualify, selected on their Class 7 results. As reported for the 2025 exam, it covered Bangla, English and Mathematics (100 marks each) and Science and Bangladesh and Global Studies (50 marks each), each paper lasting 3 hours, with a fee of Tk 600 per student.
Is the JSC still held?
No. The last JSC was held in 2019, and the government scrapped the JSC and JDC permanently in January 2023.
Is the Junior Scholarship Examination the same as the JSC?
No. It is a scholarship exam for a selected group of Class 8 students, about a quarter of the class. The JSC was a public exam for all Class 8 students.