Mumbai: Like this year’s HSC results, Mumbai has shown an improvement in its SSC exams too. In the results announced Tuesday, the Mumbai division saw its success rate rise marginally — from 93.9 to 94.02% — while all other divisions recorded a drop in their performance.It was also higher than the state’s 93.05% which, in fact, dropped by 1.9% from last year’s 94.9% for both freshers and repeaters put together. The jump in Mumbai numbers will impact first-year junior college admissions in the city; Mumbai division’s 90% club saw a significant 33% jump — from 13,430 in 2024 to 17,895 this year. The number of state high scorers, on the other hand, has declined marginally — from 81,911 last year to 81,809 this year.Meanwhile, as many as 211 students — eight of them from Mumbai — bagged the perfect score of 100% in the state, thanks to additional marks awarded for participation in arts, culture, sports, NCC, and scouts and guides. In the state, 2.5 lakh students benefited from the additional marks, with Pune and Kolhapur bagging 1/5th each. The overall number of students benefiting from additional marks have increased from last year’s 1.8 lakh. Although Latur’s overall success rate has dropped by close to 3%, more than half the students with perfect scores — 113 — are from the division.This year, SSC results were announced almost two weeks before last year’s schedule.Mumbai division, which was at the bottom of the 9 in the state in 2024, has jumped to the third position — after Konkan and Kolhapur. At a success rate of 87.8%, Nagpur recorded the poorest performance among all divisions.Girls, as usual, have outperformed boys, both in city and state, with over 95% clearing the exams. The performance of boys is better in Mumbai , though, at 92.55%, as compared to the state’s 91%.In the SSC results declared Tuesday, performance of schools across the Mumbai division has improved, with the number of schools recording 100% results in the division going up marginally from 1,533 to 1,579. On the contrary, the corresponding number in the state has declined from 9,382 to 7,924.Sharad Gosavi, chairman, Maharashtra state board of education, said that more than 94% success rate (only freshers) is a decent score for the state’s performance, even if it has dropped marginally.”The marginal drop is not a big problem. We have noted that students perform well in Class 10 and then their scores drop in Class 12. We want them to continue studying with the same focus and zeal even in Class 11 and 12 and not consider Class 11 as a rest year,” said Gosavi, adding Mumbai has seen an improvement in their success rate, while other areas have reported a decline.”The divisional results vary every year and one cannot attribute any reason to the change,” he said.Sindhudurg district has recorded the best results this year while Gadchiroli’s success rate was the lowest in the state, he added.Rajendra Ahire, Mumbai divisional secretary, said it is a pleasant repetition that girls have outdone boys.”While the success rate is similar to that of last year, I also want to tell those who are not successful this time to once again give the best shot at preparation and take the exam again. I would urge them to not drop out.””This year’s SSC results signal a clear upward trajectory than last year. We’re not just seeing better scores— we’re seeing sharper focus, greater accountability, and a mindset shift among our students. The foundation we’ve been building is beginning to show its strength. There’s more to achieve, but the momentum is real—and we’re moving with purpose,” said Madhavi Gaonkar, headmistress, St Xavier’s High School, Goregaon. Her school has five students who scored over 95% this year while there were none last year.Mukta Mithe, principal of Parle Tilak Vidyalaya, said the highest score in the school has reduced marginally, but the overall success rate has improved over last year and the numbers of students scoring over 90% have almost doubled in numbers—from 6 to 13 this year.In Mumbai division, Raigad, followed by Mumbai Suburban 1, recorded better results this year compared to Palghar, Thane, Mumbai suburban 2.In the state, 37 schools, where malpractices were reported during the exams, have been blacklisted from conducting next year’s exam. A total of 94 cases of malpractice were reported at these centres. None of these are from Mumbai.A total of six FIRs were filed in the state during the exams, none of these were from Mumbai.Text by BB Nayak, Aaliyah Berchman, Samya Kamaal Khan and Nishikant Karlikar