‘On top of the world’: Bengaluru boy Samit Punamia shares his joy after scoring 99.66% in ICSE exams 2025

For 16-year-old Samit Punamia, today is a day he will never forget. The Grade 10 student of VIBGYOR High, Marathahalli, Bengaluru, is basking in the glory of an outstanding ICSE board result — a whopping 99.66% overall, with perfect scores in Mathematics, Science, History-Civics & Geography, and Computer Applications. With a Best-of-Five score of 99.8%, Samit is one of the top scorers in the country this year.

“I feel wonderful, awesome… on top of the world!” beams Samit, trying to put into words the excitement of seeing his results. “It still hasn’t completely sunk in.”

Interestingly, Samit didn’t follow a rigid schedule or coaching-centred preparation strategy. “I didn’t have a fixed strategy. My focus was to complete the syllabus a month before the exams and spend that final month solving past papers and sample questions,” he says. But it wasn’t all books and revision. Samit emphasises the role of downtime in his routine. “I made sure I spent at least an hour every day playing sports and listening to music. That helped me stay calm and focused.”

In the early months, Samit would study around three to four hours a day. “Closer to the exams, I upped it to about eight hours daily,” he adds, highlighting the importance of consistency and time management.