SLAS 2025: Tamil Nadu students get just 38 in Class 8 Maths, 37 in Science; scores drop as classes progress

Tamil Nadu students show a steep learning decline as they progress through school, with Class 8 Maths scores plummeting to just 38 compared to 54 in Classes 3 and 57 in Class 5, according to the State Level Achievement Survey (SLAS) 2025. While science performance in Class 8 averaged an even lower 37 marks, English scores dropped from 69 in Class 3 to 39 in Class 8.

The SLAS 2025 survey that covered government and aided schools in all the 38 districts of the state, using stratified random sampling and OMR-based testing, reveals that learning outcomes deteriorate consistently across key subjects such as Tamil, English, Mathematics, Environmental Science, Science, and Social Science, as classes progress.

In total, 9,80,341 students participated. Up to 20 students per section were tested in Classes 3 and 5, and up to 30 in Class 8.

The SLAS also revealed that girls outperformed boys across subjects and aided schools maintained a modest 2-4 point advantage over government schools. Southern districts consistently performed better than northern and western districts.

Class 8 Maths, Science, English: Subject outcomes

In Class 3, students scored highest in Environmental Science (76), followed by English (69) and Tamil (67), with Mathematics lagging at 54. Girls outperformed boys in every subject, and aided schools showed a slight advantage in English and Mathematics.

For Class 5, Tamil emerged as the strongest subject with an average score of 76, while English remained weak at 51. Mathematics and Environmental Science were moderate at 57 each. Girls continued to lead in most subjects, though in Environmental Science the gender gap was minimal.

SLAS averages: Subject-wise scores in key subjects

Class 8 showed a marked decline in performance, particularly in Mathematics (38) and Science (37), while Social Science (54) and Tamil (52) fared better. English averaged just 39. Girls consistently outscored boys, and aided schools maintained a 2-4 point lead in most subjects.

Tamil Nadu SLAS 2025: State, district report card

The State Report Card in SLAS highlights the reach of the exercise. A total of 9,80,341 students participated across all three classes, though one table in the report lists 9,80,340, a minor clerical variation.

SLAS 2025: Participation of students

* Note: There’s a discrepancy in the SLAS 2025 report with respect to this figure. The narrative part of the report says the number of Class 3 students assessed is 3,06,982.

Girls constituted slightly more than half the assessed sample across classes. In management terms, aided schools contributed around one-fifth of the sample, with government schools the rest.

Geographic patterns reveal distinct district-level variations in learning outcomes. In Class 3, 22 districts scored above the state average across all subjects, while 12 districts, mostly in the north and west, fell below in every subject.

By Class 5, performance showed a wider spread – Tamil remained strong across nearly all districts, whereas English continued to lag.

In Class 8, 15 districts managed to surpass the state average in all five subjects, highlighting pockets of higher achievement amidst overall variability.

SLAS 2025: Survey tools, assessment design

SLAS 2025 followed the design of national surveys but tailored it to Tamil Nadu’s context. According to the SLAS report, the assessment process was carefully structured to ensure reliability and neutrality. Question papers were designed using blueprints that mapped competencies across Bloom’s taxonomy levels — knowledge, understanding and application — with multiple-choice questions printed in both Tamil and English.

Each student’s responses were captured on uniquely barcoded Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) sheets linked to their EMIS ID, allowing precise mapping of test performance to individual records. To maintain transparency, external invigilators oversaw the administration, while OMR sheets were scanned at four regional centres.

This design, the report emphasises, was chosen to ensure reliability, comparability and ease of aggregation from school to state level.