WAEC rejects private schools' claims over BECE marking Standfirst

The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has rejected claims that candidates from private schools were marked differently from their counterparts in public schools in this year's Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).

The response follows concerns raised by the Ghana National Association of Private Schools (GNAPS), which questioned the credibility of the 2026 BECE results after many private schools recorded lower pass rates than expected.

GNAPS said the results did not reflect the performance of many candidates during the examinations, particularly in the core subjects, and called for further scrutiny of the marking process.

But WAEC insisted that all candidates were assessed under the same standards.

"There is no truth in any such allegation because the candidates are considered one cohort from private to public schools," WAEC's Head of Public Affairs, John Kapi, said on TV3's Ghana Tonight.

"When the examiners meet for the coordination meetings, it is all about one marking scheme for everybody."

Mr Kapi said WAEC's marking procedures are designed to ensure fairness and prevent examiners from knowing whether scripts belong to candidates from private or public schools.

He explained that examination scripts are anonymised before marking, making it impossible for examiners to identify the type of school a candidate attended.

WAEC also urged schools and parents with concerns about this year's results to use the established appeals process.

Mr Kapi said candidates could seek clarification directly from WAEC or raise concerns with the Ghana Education Service or the Ministry of Education if they believed there had been irregularities.

The dispute comes as some private schools continue to question this year's BECE results, while WAEC maintains that all candidates were assessed using a single, nationally approved marking scheme.