Important
The Punjab Examination Commission (PEC) no longer exists and its Grade 5 and Grade 8 examinations are no longer held. In March 2025 the PEC was merged into the Punjab Education, Curriculum, Training and Assessment Authority (PECTAA). Grade 5 now uses school-based assessment, and PECTAA restored a board examination for Grade 8, first held in March 2026.
Overview
The Punjab Examination Commission was an autonomous body of the Government of Punjab, Pakistan. It ran standardised public examinations at the end of Grade 5 and Grade 8 in the province's schools.
In February 2019 the Punjab school education minister announced that the PEC examinations for Grades 5 and 8 would be abolished, to reduce the burden on children. In March 2025 the provincial government merged the PEC with the Punjab Curriculum and Textbook Board and the Quaid-i-Azam Academy for Educational Development to form PECTAA. In April 2025 PECTAA said there would be no Grade 5 and Grade 8 board exams that year, and that schools would assess students continuously instead.
The PECTAA website could not be read because of a bot check, and no official page describing the old PEC examinations was found, so this page relies on news reports and an academic paper.
Exam pattern
| Feature | PEC examination (former) |
|---|---|
| Grades | End of Grade 5 and end of Grade 8 |
| Subjects assessed | Science, Urdu, English, Mathematics and Islamiyat |
| Total marks | 500 for each of the Grade 5 and Grade 8 examinations |
| Other subjects | Not assessed by the PEC |
The subject list and marks are as described in a 2019 academic paper, which cites the PEC website as of 2016.
What replaced it
Grade 5: no board examination. Students are assessed by their schools through tests, quizzes, projects, teacher observation and portfolios.
Grade 8: in July 2025 the Punjab education minister announced that the Grade 8 board examination would return, run by PECTAA. The 2026 examination ran from 9 to 12 March 2026, with Mathematics, Urdu, English and Science papers from 9:00 am to 12:00 noon. Other subjects were assessed by schools.
Check PECTAA's announcements for the current Grade 8 schedule.
Is the PEC exam still held?
No. The PEC was merged into PECTAA in March 2025. Grade 5 has no board exam, and the Grade 8 board exam is now run by PECTAA; it was first held in March 2026.
Who runs the Grade 8 exam in Punjab now?
The Punjab Education, Curriculum, Training and Assessment Authority (PECTAA).