The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has sought to clear up widespread misconceptions about the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) grading system, explaining that outstanding performance in school does not automatically translate into the highest grades in the national examination.
Speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show, WAEC’s Head of Public Affairs, John Kapi, said the BECE is graded using a norm-referenced system, meaning candidates are assessed in relation to the performance of the entire national cohort rather than only their classmates.
He explained that while a student may consistently rank first in a school with a small class size, the BECE places that student in direct competition with more than 620,000 candidates across the country.
Using a hypothetical example, Mr Kapi said a pupil who regularly scores 90 per cent and tops a class of 40 students may still face stiff competition from thousands of candidates who achieve similar or even higher marks in the national examination.
“The student may be number one in the school, but in the BECE, that same candidate is competing against hundreds of thousands of others who could also score 90 per cent or even 95 per cent,” he explained.
According to him, this nationwide comparison is the reason some students who excel throughout their basic education do not always obtain the top BECE grades, despite maintaining excellent academic records in school.
Mr Kapi urged parents to appreciate the distinction between classroom assessments and national examinations, noting that school rankings measure performance within a limited group, whereas the BECE evaluates candidates against the academic performance of all examinees nationwide.
He said a better understanding of the grading process would help address concerns raised by some parents following the release of the 2026 BECE results.
The clarification comes amid questions over this year’s results, with the Ghana National Association of Private Schools alleging inconsistencies in the grading of some candidates.
