A total of 147 schools are ready to contest fiercely for places in the next round of Ghana’s most prestigious academic competition.

Out of the 174 participating schools, 27 have already booked automatic qualification to the one-eighth stage. The remaining 147 schools will compete in the preliminary rounds for a chance to join them.

The preliminary contests will run from Monday, October 20, to Thursday, October 24, 2025, bringing together brilliant students from across the country in a series of fast-paced and intellectually engaging contests.

Excitement and anticipation are high as the battle for national supremacy in science and mathematics begins.

Check out the full list of schools and contest pairings as the journey to the 2025 grand finale kicks off:

On day four of the prelims, two schools tied for the highest points of the day. University Practice SHS and Abetifi Presby SHS both won their contest with 79 points.

They both also tied as the schools with the second-highest points in the preliminary contests. St Thomas Aquinas leads with 85 points.

University Practice SHS competed with Presby SHS, Suhum and EPC Mawuko Girls’ SHS. Presby SHS left with 37 points and Mawuko Girls’ 14.

They also won GHC800 in the Goil Riddle Bonanza after answering three riddles correctly.

Kumapley:

University Practice SHS walk away with a cool GHc 800 for answering three riddles correctly in the @GOIL_Official Riddle Bonanza.?#NSMQ2022 #NSMQPrelims #Primetime pic.twitter.com/VUwLw5YE90

— NSMQ Ghana (@NSMQGhana) October 13, 2022

Meanwhile, Abetifi Presby SHS contested with Acherensua SHS and Kalpohin SHS.

The losing schools finished with 37 and 14 points respectively.

Aburi Presby SHS also put up an impressive fight in their contest. They secured a slot at the one-eighth stage with 64 points.

They competed with Nungua SHS and Atebubu SHS.

Mawuli School bagged a spot at the one-eighth. They competed against Fijai SHS and Boaamponsem SHS.

The Volta Region based school won the contest with 39 points. Fijai SHS followed closely with 35 points.

Winning their contest with 41 points, Krobo Girls is through to the next stage of the NSMQ competition.

They beat St Mary’s Girls’ SHS, who finished with 27 points and Bueman SHS, who finished with 8 points, to win the competition.

The girls also won GHC800 in the Goil Riddle Bonanza and GHC2000 for the Prudential Life NSMQ star award.

Krobo Girls’ SHS won both the @GOIL_Official Riddle Bonanza and the @prulifegh NSMQ star in the second contest at the KNUST SHS Auditorium.

Congratulations ? #NSMQ2022 #NSMQPrelims #Primetime pic.twitter.com/Wg1gcojUGa

— NSMQ Ghana (@NSMQGhana) October 13, 2022

Also, competing at the one-eighth stage of the NSMQ competition is Tarkwa SHS.

They beat Effiduase Senior High Comm School and Sekondi College with 31 points.

Adventist SHS sailed through the preliminary stage to the one-eighth stage with 64 points.

They faced Kpando SHS and Al-Azhariya SHS in the contest. The two schools lost with 15 and 13 points respectively.

After failing to go further in the competition last year, Mfantsipim School returned to the NSMQ with hopes of beating the 2021 records.

For their first contest, the boys qualified for the one-eighth stage with 61 points. Their competitors West Africa SHS finished with 43 points while Sandema SHS only got 12 points.

Mfantispim in addition to their win, took home GHC800 for winning the Goil Riddle Bonanza.

KNUST SHS AUDI:

Mfantsipim School walks away with a cool GHc 800 for answering three riddles correctly in the @GOIL_Official Riddle Bonanza.?#NSMQ2022 #NSMQPrelims #Primetime pic.twitter.com/rsZd9jbIrM

— NSMQ Ghana (@NSMQGhana) October 13, 2022

For some of these schools who lost today’s contest and those who lost in the previous days, the prelims may not be the last NSMQ competition for them this year.

About 18 schools who had high marks but did not win, after a tally, will gain a chance to compete in the one-eighth stage.

The 2022 National Science and Maths Quiz is produced by Primetime Limited and sponsored by the Ghana Education Service in partnership with Absa Ghana. It is supported by GOIL, Prudential Life Insurance, AirtelTigo, Dano Milk, Newmont, Accra College of Medicine, Academic City University College and YFM.

The broadcast of the National Science & Maths Quiz on JoyNews is supported by Virtual Infosec Africa, Virtual Security Africa, Vita Milk, Cowbell, Alumni by Enterprise Life, Faytex Toilet Roll, Ace Medical Insurance, Azar Group, Kings Group Limited, Family Health Medical School, DBS, KORBA and Lumetrust from Pharmatrust.

Many zonal and regional champions failed to qualify for the one-eighth stage, while some less-fancied schools put up strong competitions to book their place in the one-eighth stage.

At the end of the prelims, which took place in eight zones across the country, 16 schools that could not qualify in the prelims but had higher scores were categorised as best runners-up.

Since only 15 schools were needed to join the qualified ones, a tiebreaker contest was held.

Before the confirmation of the 15, the last three schools – T. I. AMASS, Fomena, Nsutaman Catholic, and T. I. AMASS, Kumasi – were tied at 35 points. As a result, Nsutaman Catholic SHS was eventually evicted.

These schools will join the 39 prelims winners and the 27 NSMQ 2020 seeded schools for the one-eighth stage. Is your school in good standing?

The One-eighth Stage to the Grand Finale comes off from November 12 to November 26, in Kumasi at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).

The KNUST campus will be the battleground to determine which Senior High School will clinch the coveted trophy and the bragging rights as champions of science and maths education in Ghana.

The Ashanti Region is regarded as one of the NSMQ powerhouses with six trophies, the second-highest after the Greater Accra Region.