KARACHI: In light of the Inter Board Coordination Commission (IBCC) policy directives, the Sindh government has abolished the marks system in all educational boards of the province and approved a new grading system for matriculation and intermediate examinations, announced Sindh Minister for Universities and Boards Ismail Rahoo on Tuesday.

Under the new system, students scoring less than 40 per cent will be considered failed.

From now on, students’ performance will be categorised into the following grades instead of marks: A++: 96 per cent-100pc; A+: 91pc-95pc; -A: 86pc-90pc; B++: 81pc-85pc; B+: 76pc-80pc; B: 71pc-75pc; C+: 61pc-70pc; C: 51pc-60pc; D: 40pc-50pc (Emerging); U: Below 40pc (Fail/Undergraded).

The minister explained that the new grading system would be implemented across the province in phases. Starting in 2026, it will be applied to the first annual examinations of class nine and class 11 (SSC-I / HSSC-I).

According to the provincial minister, in 2027 the system will also apply to the annual examinations of class 10 and class 12 (SSC-II / HSSC-II).

He said any student who scores below 40pc in any paper will be declared ‘U’, amd would be given the opportunity to reappear in the same paper to improve their performance.

The purpose of this system is to bring uniformity across all educational boards in the country, he added. Once the system is fully implemented in all boards, a Grade Point Average (GPA) system will also be introduced in the future.

Published in Dawn, January 21st, 2026