Berhanu Nega (Prof.), Minister of Education, has announced that 87.2 percent—or roughly 480,000 Grade 12 examinees—scored below 50 percent on the university entrance exam.
More than 550,210 students sat for the Ethiopian Higher Education Entrance Certificate Examination (EHEECE), administered nationwide in hybrid formats last July. “A total of 70,544 examinees managed to score 50 percent and above, qualifying for admission to higher education institutions,” the minister said during a press conference held on Saturday, August 22, 2026.
The national pass rate stands at 12.8 percent, indicating a “substantial improvement over previous academic years’ results.” “Last year’s passing rate was just 8.9 percent,” he added.
RELATED POSTS
However, a wide gap remains between the pass rates of Natural and Social Sciences streams.
A Ministry of Education report indicates that 16.5 percent of Natural Sciences students obtained a passing mark, whereas the pass rate for Social Sciences students stands at 8.33 percent.
