Bengaluru: The second pre-university pass percentage has dropped by about 5% compared to last year. The results were announced on Thursday.

In 2016, 57.20% of all candidates had tasted success; this year the percentage is 52.38. Srujana N from Expert PU College, Mangaluru, and Radhika Pai from SV PU College, Kundapura, have topped the science stream with 596 marks. Shrinidhi P of RNS Composite PU College, Bengaluru, and Sai Samarth of Sathya Sai Lokaseva PU College, Alike, are the toppers in the commerce stream, with a score of 595. With 589 marks, B Chaitra of Indu PU College, Kottur, is the highest scorer in the arts stream.

Udupi (90.01%) has overtaken Dakshina Kannada (89.92%) as the district with the highest pass percentage. Kodagu comes third with 75.83%. The districts with the lowest pass percentage are Vijayapura (43%), Yadgir (42.07%) and Bidar (42.05%).

Of the 6,79,061 students who appeared, 3,55,697 have cleared the exams. This year, 132 colleges have registered zero passes, and 37 colleges 100% passes. For the first time, the department will conduct remedial classes at the district-level for students writing their supplementary exams.

Announcing the results, Primary and Secondary Education Minister Tanveer Sait attributed the decline in the pass percentage to strict measures to curb malpractices. “With extra measures taken through the Karnataka Secure Examination System, we ensured there were no opportunities for people to cheat.”