50,000 BECE candidates shut out of SHS placement over English or Maths
About 565,000 candidates have secured places ahead of Friday’s release, but those who failed English Language, Mathematics or both are ineligible—even if they obtained a good overall aggregate.
About 50,000 candidates who sat the 2026 Basic Education Certificate Examination will not be placed in senior high schools after failing to meet the pass requirement in English Language or Mathematics, the national placement coordinator has said.
Some 565,000 of the approximately 620,000 candidates who wrote the examination have secured places, with the Computerised School Selection and Placement System results expected to be released on Friday, 4 September 2026.
CSSPS Coordinator Sherif Sulemana disclosed the figures in an interview on Joy FM on Wednesday morning, monitored by The Executive Spotlight.
He said candidates must pass both English Language and Mathematics to
qualify for placement, irrespective of their overall BECE aggregate.
This means a candidate may obtain a strong aggregate but remain ineligible for placement after failing either of the two subjects.
The figures provided are approximate. While the difference between 620,000 candidates and the 565,000 said to have secured places is about 55,000, Mr Sulemana placed the number unable to qualify at about 50,000.
The placement exercise will also introduce changes intended to make the admission process more accessible to successful candidates and their families.
Complaint resolution centres are being decentralised to the regional level, although they will not initially operate in every district.
Responding to concerns about candidates who live far from regional centres, Education Minister’s Press Secretary and Spokesperson Hashmin Mohammed said the Ministry was working within its available resources.
“That would have been the ideal situation,” he said of establishing centres in every district.
Mr Mohammed said the government would consider extending the arrangement to the district level if the regional centres proved inadequate. Call-centre telephone lines would also be provided for candidates in districts far from the resolution centres, he added.
Another change will allow candidates to download their admission letters digitally as part of their placement results.
According to Mr Mohammed, successful candidates will no longer need to travel to their assigned schools solely to collect admission letters because the letters will accompany the placement.
Thousands compete for Category A places
The figures also reveal intense competition for places in some Category A senior high schools.
Mr Sulemana said Aburi Girls’ Senior High School and Achimota School received more than 36,000 applications for about 2,100 available places between them.
That leaves roughly 34,000 applicants competing unsuccessfully for places at the two schools if all 2,100 vacancies are filled from that applicant pool.
Selecting a school as a preferred choice therefore does not guarantee placement, particularly where the number of qualified applicants substantially exceeds its available vacancies.
Candidates who do not receive one of their selected schools will have to await the options made available under the placement system when the results are released.
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