BASIC EDUCATION CERTIFICATE EXAMINATION

1. INTRODUCTION
This examination is both for certification and selection to Senior Secondary Schools and Technical Institutes.

2. ELIGIBILITY

Candidates in the third year of Junior Secondary Schools approved by the Ghana Education Service are eligible to take part in this examination.

3. DATE OF EXAMINATION

The examination is conducted nationwide in APRIL and it is of five-day duration.

4. ENTRY PERIOD AND DOCUMENTS

The entry period is July/August just before the candidates leave JSS 2 and it normally takes six weeks. Candidates are entered on both Entry schedules and Scannable Entry forms (one candidate per form) which are obtained from the District Directors of Education.

5. SUBJECTS FOR THE EXAMINATION

The following are the subjects for the Basic Education Certificate Examination.

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•  COMPULSORY (CORE) SUBJECTS

• GHANAIAN LANGUAGE AND CULTURE (SELECT ONE)

• VOCATIONAL SKILLS (SELECT ONE)

• OPTIONAL SUBJECT

Therefore, the entries cover 31 subjects, 7 of which are compulsory for all candidates. In addition candidates opt for one Vocational skills subject out of twelve Vocational subjects and one Ghanaian Language and Culture subject out of eleven languages. French is a compulsory subject for schools which have French tutors. The total number of subjects therefore taken by each candidate for the examination therefore is either 9 or 10.

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6. GRADING OF CANDIDATES

Candidates are graded based on performance in the external examination (objective and written) and Continuous (Internal) Assessment marks provided by the schools. A nine-point scale is used in grading the candidates with Grade 1 denoting the highest performance and Grade 9 the lowest.

7. RELEASE OF RESULTS

The results of the examination are released in August to enable successful and qualified candidates enter Senior Secondary Schools and Technical Instituties at the beginning of the academic year in September. The results lists are sent to the participating schools, whilst each candidate receives a statement of results through his/her school.

8. SELECTION OF CANDIDATES TO SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL

Based on data captured from the entry form during the entry period and the performance of the candidates, the Council issues a document known as ORDER OF MERIT BY SCHOOL/PROGRAMME OF FIRST CHOICE. This is to facilitate the process for the selection of candidates to Senior Secondary School . To qualify for consideration into Senior Secondary School a candidate should obtain at least an aggregate of 30 in six subjects. In addition, for every programme a candidate must at least obtain a minimum of grade 5 in the appropriate subject areas.

Below are the programmes and the subject areas.

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9. REVIEW OF SCRIPTS

Scripts are kept for three months after the release of results before they are finally destroyed. During this time, review of scripts for a fee is allowed and this is done at the instance of the Head of school or an accredited representative of the school since the Basic Education Certificate Examination is a school-based examination. The Council by policy does not undertake review of scripts at the instance of candidates, parents, guardians or persons claiming to act "in loco parentis".

10. CERTIFICATES

Certificates for successful candidates are produced six to twelve months after the release of results. They are sent to the schools for collection by individual candidates.

Certificates for successful candidates are produced once, and so certificates which get lost or damaged after collection are not replaced.

11. CONFIRMATION OF RESULTS

Candidates who lose their certificates may confirm their results to prospective employers and educational institutions.

For further information see CONFIRMATION OF RESULTS.

All enquires about the Basic Education Certificate Examination may be (directed to the National Examination Administration Department, Telephone Numbers: 233-21- 685917, 233-21- 685947, 233-21- 685986

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