BECE 2025: School Selection Process For Candidates Begins With New Guidelines From GES

• Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) candidates have begun making their Senior High School choices
• New guidelines outlined by the Ghana Education Service require candidates to select five schools of their choice and two others
• Candidates are expected to select one school from category A, not more than two schools from category B, among others

Parents and guardians for the 2025 Basic Education and Certificate Examination candidates have begun making their Senior High School choices.

The selection process has adopted new guidelines and will run from Tuesday, May 27, to Friday, June 6, 2025.

Once the selections are made and the placement is done, there will be no changes after placement.

This year, the school selection process is taking place before the Basic Education and Certificate Examination, unlike in the past few years.

The Basic Education and Certificate Examination will commence on June 11.

Under the new guidelines outlined by the Ghana Education Service, candidates are expected to select five schools of their choice and two others, making seven in total.

As part of the selection, candidates are expected to select one school from category A, not more than two schools from category B, however, candidates can select all five schools from category C.

Candidates interested in TVET education are required to select all five choices in TVET schools, but in the same order of one from category A, not more than two from category B or all five schools from category C.

Out of the five schools, a candidate is expected to select three of them as boarding and two day schools.

Graphic Online reported that during a briefing on the matter, the National Coordinator of the Free Senior High School, Benita Sena Okity-Duah, assured that the placement will be merit-based.

What officials said about the guidelines

The Deputy Minister of Education, Dr. Clement Apaak, said reversal is part of several reforms to improve school selection and placement.

He also urged parents and guardians to be involved in the school placement process, as head teachers and teachers have been barred from assisting candidates.

“Parents are encouraged to seek guidance from their child’s junior high school authorities when filling out the school selection forms. It is crucial that parents take an active interest in this process, as the choices made will determine the senior high school their wards attend after completing basic education."

“Importantly, no headteacher or teacher is permitted to complete the selection form on behalf of a student without the explicit consent of the parent or guardian. The form must be signed by the parent or guardian and submitted to the headteacher of the candidate’s junior high school,”

Okity-Duah, speaking on some of the reforms undertaken by the government, emphasised that the shift is intended to avoid confusion and ensure candidates and parents take full responsibility for the schools selected.

Second year with new BECE subjects

Candidates have been writing three new subjects since the 2024 examination.

The new subjects are Career Technology, Creative Art and Design, and Arabic, which will be optional.

Subjects for the exam fall under mandatory, elective and optional categories.

The mandatory subjects are English Language, Mathematics, General Science, Social Studies, Religious and Moral Education, Career Technology and Creative Arts and Design.

Ghanaian languages are classified as elective subjects, while French, Arabic, and English are optional subjects.

Attempt to do away with BECE

The previous government wanted to make the transition to Senior High School seamless by doing away with the Basic Education and Certificate Examination.

This would have come to pass if the Free Senior High School Bill was passed before the end of 2024.

Secondary schools, while operating separately, were envisaged to offer the same learning opportunities as senior high.

WAEC releases withheld results following court order

In March 2025, YEN.com.gh reported that the council was compelled by a court to release some withheld results.

At the time, WAEC had withheld over 10,000 results over suspected malpractices. Four students petitioned a high court on behalf of all affected candidates.

The court further held that keeping the results indefinitely could hinder the academic and professional progress of the students.

The court also noted that WAEC had failed to provide sufficient justification for its actions.

Proofreading by Samuel Gitonga, copy editor at YEN.com.gh.

Source: YEN.com.gh