Around 1,000 students who sat for the Secondary Education Examination (SEE) have had their answer sheets go missing, affecting the publication of results for re-evaluation.

According to the National Examination Board, answer sheets of about 1,000 students who applied for rechecking could not be found. This has delayed the publication of re-evaluation results. Examination Controller Tukraj Adhikari said 33,887 students had applied for rechecking, of whom results for 31,855 have been published.

The board said the results of around 2,335 students were still pending. However, officials clarified that the higher figure includes cases where results were marked as “missing” for various reasons and instances where the same student applied more than once. “It is not that answer sheets of all these students are missing,” Adhikari said.

The delay occurred after answer sheets sent by districts and examination centres were found without proper student scripts. The board said this has slowed down the rechecking process. Grade improvement examinations have already begun on Monday across the country, but some students who applied for rechecking have been forced to sit for these exams without receiving their revised results.

Some students from Sarlahi reached the Examination Control Office in Sanothimi, Bhaktapur, seeking updates on their rechecking results. Student Rabi Shakya said he travelled there after the results were not published on time. “They said they are trying to locate the answer sheets. We are suffering due to negligence,” he said. Students from Morang have already participated in the grade improvement exams due to the delay.

The government had earlier announced that results would be published within a month of the examination. Accordingly, answer sheets were checked at examination centres and sent to the board office. However, officials said improper handling at centres has caused difficulties in tracking the scripts.

Board staff said answer sheets were bundled and sent in an unorganised manner. “While searching for answer sheets, we even found scripts from Jhapa, Ilam, Morang, Sunsari and Sarlahi still lying in schools,” Controller Adhikari said. “We have requested them and will publish the results after verification.”

The board said efforts are ongoing to locate missing answer sheets. Officials added that some may have been left at examination centres, while others may have been misplaced during processing.

On Monday, the board published rechecking results for 339 students, of whom 18 had changes in their results. Earlier, results for 31,516 students had been published in six phases, with 1,810 seeing changes after re-evaluation. This year, more than five percent of results have been revised after rechecking.

The number of rechecking applications also increased compared to last year. Officials said errors included mistakes in totalling marks and incorrect data entry, leading to students receiving lower scores than they should have.

Students are required to pay a fee of Rs500 to apply for rechecking. However, some have been unable to receive their revised results due to missing answer sheets.

Under board rules, students dissatisfied with results can apply for rechecking, view their answer sheets, and request re-evaluation. If still unsatisfied, they can seek further review.

Among the 430,667 regular students who appeared for the examinations held from April 2 to April 12, 65.98 percent secured grades and qualified for further studies, a marginal rise from last year’s 61.81 percent. According to the board, 284,160 students passed the examination, while 146,507 were placed in the non-graded category.