Bhubaneswar: Students from humble backgrounds shone brightly in Annual Higher Secondary Examination (AHSE) 2026 in Odisha, which recorded a notable improvement in performance as overall pass percentage climbed to 85.85, up by nearly 3 percentage points from 82.77 last year.
Archita Sahu, daughter of a daily-wage worker from Sundargarh district, scored 95.17% (571/600) in Arts. Studying at Government Higher Secondary School, Rourkela, she credited consistent study (5-6 hours daily, up to 10 during exams), her parents, and teachers for her success. She aims to pursue graduation in Arts and later crack the Odisha Public Service Commission exam.
Similarly in Ganjam, Anshuman Sadangi, son of a taxi driver and a tailor, achieved an outstanding 99.17% (595/600). Despite financial constraints, his parents ensured he studied at Nalanda Vidya Mandir after excelling in Class 10. Focused on conceptual clarity rather than rote hours, Anshuman now eyes engineering at an IIT and is preparing for the NISER entrance exam on June 6.
KISS Students Deliver Strong Performance
Students from Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) recorded an encouraging performance across all streams. More than 50% secured first division, and several scored above 90%, five each in Arts and Commerce, and seven in Science. Neha Kujur emerged as the college topper in Arts with 91% marks, while Sa
ribala Munda topped in Science with 96% and Shashimani Majhi in Commerce with 91%.
KIIT and KISS Founder Achyuta Samanta congratulated the students, faculty, and staff for their dedication and hard work.
The Results
Among the four streams, students of Science stream scored the highest pass percentage of 88.82%, followed by Commerce (88.07%), arts (84.5%) and Vocational Education (77.62%), a huge improvement from last year when 60.57% cleared the AHSE. District-wise, Sambalpur recorded the highest overall pass percentage at 89.48. Balasore saw the highest pass percentage of 96.63% in Science; in Commerce and Vocational Education, Boudh and Nabarangpur districts scored a perfect 100% respectively; in arts, Sambalpur posted the highest pass rate of 89.48.
CHSE Chairman Mrunal Kanti Das noted that the number of students scoring 90% and above has tripled, from around 2,000 last year to over 6,000 this year.
This year, over 3.98 lakh students appeared for the examinations across Odisha held between February 18 and April 25. Digital mark sheets will be available for download from May 21 via DigiLocker and the official results portal (results.odisha.gov.in), while physical copies will be distributed from June 15. The notification for re-evaluation is expected on May 27.
Plus II instant examination and the newly introduced improvement examination will be conducted simultaneously in the first week of July. Students securing a minimum of 210 marks and failing in one subject would be eligible to appear for the instant examination, while those, who have already passed the examination, will be allowed to reappear in any one paper of their choice to improve their scores. The results of the instant and improvement examinations will be declared by the last week of July.