Sonali Chavan of Saraswati Secondary School scored 96.46 per cent to mark the third year in a row, and the fifth time in six exams, that Thane has put up the Mumbai division topper. Since 2004, the only time Thane missed the top slot was in 2006.

Sonali is followed by Shefali Majalkar of Saraswati Vidyalaya High School (Thane again) and Sanket Patil of St Anthony Convent High School (Vasai, again in Thane district). With 96.30 per cent, they share the division’s second spot with Nishigandha Kerure of Balmohan Vidyamandir (Dadar).

They follow Thane schoolmates Durgesh Anil Deshpande of Dr Bedekar School in 2004; Hrishikesh Terdalkar of Adarsh Vidya Mandir, Badlapur, in 2005; Renuka Deshpande of Saraswati Secondary School in 2007; Madhura Naik of Badlapur and Pratik Ramdasi of Dombivli in 2008.

Sonali had attended private coaching classes and attributed her success to “quality” studies. “I studied only two hours on days I didn’t have exams but those were quality studies,” she said.

Other stars this year included night school topper Sonali Singh of Canossa Night High School, Mahim, with 84.15 per cent; backward classes topper Anjali Jadhav of AB Goregaonkar School, Goregaon, with 95.84 per cent; handicapped students category topper Navneet Mehrol of VN Sule Guruji High School, Dadar, with 94.61 per cent.

The overall success rate rose to 80.18 per cent from last year’s 78.91, but it dipped in Mumbai divison to 78.66 per cent after last year’s 80.98. The Mumbai division includes Thane, Raigad, Greater Mumbai and Mumbai.

Mumbai ranks sixth among eight divisions. The scores of the other divisions are Nashik (85%), Pune (83.46%), Amravati (83.19%), Latur (81.40%), Aurangabad (80.90%), Nagpur (76.85%) and Kolhapur (73.65%).

Basanti Roy, Mumbai divisional secretary of the Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education (MSBSHSE), sought to explain the result. “The low pass percentage in Mumbai was due to strict vigilance introduced by the Mumbai board this year. A new rule made supervisors accountable if students were caught cheating by the flying squads comprising board officials.”