More than 620,000 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) graduates in Ghana have started choosing their second-cycle schools, with the selection process due to end on Friday.
The exercise follows a new policy introduced by the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service (GES), allowing candidates to make their choices after receiving their examination results.
Officials say the change is intended to help students select schools that match their grades and reduce problems during the placement process. Previously, candidates chose senior high and technical schools before sitting the BECE, meaning some with uncompetitive grades selected Category A schools. Those institutions often became oversubscribed, leaving some applicants without placements.
Students affected by the process would then gather at resolution centres, where long queues and, at times, disorder were reported. Others used the self-placement option to secure a school.
The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) released this year’s BECE results last Saturday, prompting the current selection exercise. Successful candidates will apply for first-year places in second-cycle institutions for the 2026-2027 academic year.
A total of 620,243 candidates from 20,789 schools sat the examination. The figure included 304,415 males and 315,828 females.
Under the Computerised School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS) guidelines issued on 3 August 2026, candidates may select a maximum of two Category A schools for placement in senior high schools and technical and vocational education and training (TVET) institutions.
The rules are set out in the 2026 SHS/TVET School Selection and CSSPS Placement Guide, jointly issued by the Ministry of Education, the GES and the Ghana TVET Service.
Candidates must list eight schools in order of preference, identify their preferred programmes and indicate whether they want boarding or day places. No more than two choices can come from Category A schools, while up to three may be selected from Category B. The final three choices must be Category C schools.
Students are not allowed to list the same school more than once. They may select up to five boarding schools and three day schools, although the guidelines advise them to choose day schools within a reasonable travelling distance of their homes.
The GES has stressed that placement will not depend on aggregate scores alone. The system will also consider the candidate’s programme choice, boarding or day preference and the availability of places.
“Your aggregate is important, but it is not the only factor,” the guidelines explained.
Candidates have also been advised to rank their choices carefully, placing their most desired school first.
Those who are placed will receive a placement slip stating their assigned school, programme, boarding or day status and reporting date. They must print the slip and present it when reporting to the school.
Parents and students have been visiting basic schools since last Monday to complete the process. Janet Owusua, head teacher of Awudome ‘1’ Junior High School, said only one candidate remained to complete the exercise at 2 p.m. the previous day.
“You know my school is a model school; even as we speak, it is left with one person.
They have all come,” she said, adding that all the students had arrived with their results slips.
She said the school’s Computing teacher had created an online platform to guide parents through the process. Parents and their children had already selected their preferred schools before visiting the school, while SHS albums uploaded to the platform helped explain the dos and don’ts.
“So, they knew what they were supposed to do. Before they came, they all had their schools with them,” she said.
Isaac Bondzie, an educationist at St Augustine’s Anglican Basic School, told the Daily Graphic that the new approach was preferable because results enabled graduates to make more appropriate choices. He said about one-third of candidates and their parents attended the exercise on its first day, adding that students had to report to schools for the selections to be completed.
Enoch Kwesi Gyetuah, Executive Director of the Ghana National Council of Private Schools (GNACOPS), said the exercise had proceeded smoothly at all institutions. However, he said the organisation was more concerned about the BECE results.
“As we speak, there are no issues regarding the placement.
We are waiting for next week to see whether there would be any issue,” he said.
Private schools began the selection exercise last Monday and are expected to finish on Friday. Mr Gyetuah added that results being withheld involved issues with WAEC.
Shirley, a parent who visited her daughter’s school, said parents had been given forms to complete and return on Thursday. They were told the GES would open the portal on Friday to upload the information.
Another parent, Atta Quartey, said he had selected schools for his daughter without encountering any difficulty.
