Calcutta: Higher secondary mark sheets or certificates will from this year mention performance percentiles to give an idea of where examinees stand in comparison to each other.

"We have yet to finalise whether percentile ranks will be mentioned in the mark sheets or the pass certificates. We are trying our best to introduce this in 2018," Mahua Das, the president of the West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education, said on Saturday.

Till last year, a higher secondary mark sheet would mention subject-wise numerical marks, the grade and the total. A certificate would mention the name of the student and institute, the year of passing the examination and the overall grade.

The mention of percentile rank will help an examinee understand better where he or she stands vis-à-vis the performance of the other candidates in a particular year. "In the existing system, the council calculates a student's percentile only on personal request. From this year, the percentile ranks of all examinees will be calculated at the time of tabulating the results so that they can be mentioned in the mark sheets or certificates," said an official of the council.

A student's percentile is calculated by dividing the number of examinees who have scored less than him or her by the total number of candidates and then multiplying the result by 100. "If 10 people take a test and nine have scored less or equal to what you did, your percentile score is nine," the official explained.

Some institutes in the country and abroad require applicants to mention their percentile ranks in the Class XII exam while seeking admission. The Class XII percentiles are also taken into consideration by IIT Kharagpur during admission to BTech courses, an official said.

Many companies ask applicants for jobs to mention their percentile ranks. "The council has noted that the number of applications seeking percentiles has been increasing. There are even instances of candidates for jobs losing out because they are unable to cite their percentile ranks," the official said.

Higher secondary examinees in Bengal often complain that their evaluators are stricter compared to those of other boards. The percentile system will make it easier for institutes to assess a student's performance in the context of how others have done in a given year. "A student with 89 and another with 90 get different grades, which makes a big difference during admission. The percentile system can eliminate such disparities," a college principal said.