As many as 14,988 candidates were absent from the Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) and its equivalent examinations and 27 others were expelled on the first day of the exam yesterday. The number of absent students on the first day this year is higher than that of last year when 13,718 students did not show up. However, the number of expelled students deceased significantly this year from last year's 89. A total of 1351,505 examinees from 9,081 education institutions are appearing in the exams.