Bangladesh will not hold admission tests for first grade from the 2027 academic year, with enrolment to be conducted through a lottery instead. The Education Ministry announced the decision in a press release on Thursday. The move signals a change from an earlier ministerial announcement that had proposed replacing school admission lotteries with examinations.

The ministry said admission to all other grades in primary and secondary schools will be conducted through admission tests. The lottery arrangement will therefore apply only to first-grade admissions, while examination-based selection remains in place for other classes.

At a March 16 press conference this year, Education and Primary and Mass Education Minister Dr A N M Ehsanul Hoque Milon had said lotteries would be withdrawn from the 2027 school year and admission tests introduced. Lottery-based admission for first grade was first introduced in the 2011 academic year in place of entrance examinations. The same system was extended to private schools in 2012.