Candidates writing this year’s Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) will be required to choose two Category ‘A’ senior high schools, one with boarding houses and the other a day school within their district, for the next phase of their education.
The adjustment is part of measures to improve the Computerised School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS) to ensure smoother placement after the release of results, and to address repeated placement challenges under the CSSPS programme.
“We did a few changes. Last year, the students picked seven schools.
This year, we have given them the chance to pick eight schools.
“Eight schools in the sense that now they are going to consider two Category ‘A’ schools, one boarding and one day within their vicinity,” the Director-General of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Professor Ernest Kofi Davis, announced as he responded to questions from journalists at a press briefing in Accra last Sunday.
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In the previous year, candidates were required to select seven schools.
Five of those schools belonged to the main selection, with two as alternatives for second placement.
Candidates were restricted to select only one school in Category ‘A’, while they had the opportunity to select a maximum of two schools in Category ‘B’.
For Category ‘C’, candidates could select up to five schools.
BECE ongoing
The press briefing was ahead of the commencement of the 2026 BECE, which started yesterday and scheduled to end on May 11, 2026.
In all, 620,141 candidates, comprising 304,349 boys and 315,792 girls, representing an increase in last year’s figure by almost 2.7 per cent from 20,395 schools, are to sit for the examination across the country.
Every candidate is expected to write 11 subjects during the examinations.
Throwing more light on the new measures, Prof. Davis explained that the changes were the result of challenges observed in previous years, including the oversubscription of the category ‘A’ schools and other placement issues.
New measures
He said the new measures were designed to ensure equity and accessibility, adding that with last year’s experience, the new measures would ensure the timely enrolment of successful candidates.
Prof. Davis told journalists that the placement process would begin immediately after the BECE in order to give enough time for processing instead of waiting for the results.
“We think it is doable because we are finishing the BECE on May 11, and our calculations suggest that we have 19 to 20 weeks to get the students to school because SHSs will reopen on September 18,” he added.
He said the new measures were in addition to enhancing previous adjustments that gave candidates greater flexibility in the selection of schools in the Category ‘B’ and Category ‘C’ schools.
Prof. Davis announced that all examination materials and relevant logistics needed to ensure the successful conduct of the examinations were in place.
He gave an assurance that the GES was working collaboratively with the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and other stakeholders to ensure smooth and successful conduct of the examinations.
The examination will be conducted in 2,303 centres under the supervision of 2,303 officers, supported by 2,070 assistant supervisors and 21,791 invigilators.
The GES Director-General advised all candidates to prepare adequately for the examination, stressing that “there is no need for students to panic or fear or be anxious because the questions will definitely come from the syllabus or the curriculum”, adding that “the questions will, therefore, be within their experience”.
Prof. Davis charged the candidates not to expect external help or “apo” in the exams room “because we will do everything possible to ensure that students don’t get ‘apo’”.
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