What mistakes must WAEC Ghana avoid when releasing the 2025 BECE results?
WAEC Ghana must avoid the marking errors made by WAEC Nigeria in the 2025 WASSCE, where serialised papers were graded incorrectly due to mismatched question numbers. This led to mass failures, grading discrepancies, and public embarrassment. To prevent this, WAEC Ghana should ensure accurate mapping of questions to answer keys, provide proper examiner training, and conduct rigorous quality checks before releasing the 2025 BECE results.
As the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) Ghana prepares to release the 2025 BECE results, it must ensure it does not repeat the costly errors made by WAEC Nigeria in its handling of the 2025 BECE and WASSCE in Ghana.
Earlier this year, WAEC Nigeria admitted to making serious errors in marking serialised papers, which significantly affected candidates’ performance statistics and caused public outrage.
What Went Wrong in Nigeria
WAEC Nigeria introduced serialised papers as an anti-cheating measure. Under this system, all candidates receive the same set of questions, but the order of questions differs. For example, one student’s Question 2 might be another student’s Question 15.
While effective against cheating, this method requires extreme care during marking. In Nigeria’s case, errors occurred when correct answers were wrongly marked as incorrect due to mismatched question numbering. This resulted in mass failures and low scores for hundreds of thousands of candidates.
On Friday, 8th August 2025, WAEC Nigeria issued a press statement acknowledging the error:
“With deep sorrow and regret, I, on behalf of the Registrar to Council, Management and Staff of WAEC Nigeria, apologise for the discrepancies discovered in the grading of serialised papers. This is very difficult for us to say, but we have to admit that it is very embarrassing.”
WAEC Ghana Must Learn from This
During the 2025 BECE, WAEC Ghana also used serialised papers for certain subjects, such as Religious and Moral Education and Science. This means Ghana’s examiners must apply total quality management principles in their marking processes to prevent similar grading discrepancies.
Any mistake in grading would not only damage the council’s credibility but also delay the school placement process managed by the Ministry of Education and the Free SHS Secretariat. Such delays could disrupt the academic calendar and affect thousands of students.
A Call for Professional Diligence
WAEC Ghana must ensure:
Accurate mapping of questions to answer keys in serialised subjects.
Proper examiner training and supervision.
Rigorous quality checks before releasing results.
The Nigerian experience should serve as a wake-up call. With public trust and students’ futures at stake, WAEC Ghana must get it right the first time.
FAQs – WAEC Ghana 2025 BECE Results & Marking Quality
1. What are serialised papers in WAEC exams?
Serialised papers are examination question papers with the same set of questions but arranged in different orders for each candidate. This method is used to reduce cheating during exams.
2. What mistake did WAEC Nigeria make in the 2025 WASSCE?
WAEC Nigeria mismatched question numbers and answer keys during the marking of serialised papers. This caused correct answers to be marked as wrong, leading to mass failures and grading discrepancies.
3. Did WAEC Ghana use serialised papers in the 2025 BECE?
Yes. WAEC Ghana used serialised papers in subjects such as Religious and Moral Education and Science during the 2025 BECE.
4. How can WAEC Ghana avoid Nigeria’s mistakes?
WAEC Ghana can prevent similar marking errors by:
Training examiners thoroughly on handling serialised papers.
Ensuring correct mapping of answer keys to question numbers.
Conducting rigorous quality control checks before result release.
5. What would happen if WAEC Ghana makes marking errors?
Mistakes in marking could delay the BECE results release, disrupt the school placement process, reduce public trust, and affect thousands of students’ academic progression.
6. When will the 2025 BECE results be released?
WAEC Ghana has not announced an official date yet, but results are typically released within 45–60 days after the last paper. WAEC is expected to release the results between latest 10th September, 2025.
READ: BECEPrep Launches WASSCE Preparation AI on WhatsApp to Help Secondary School Students Excel
7. Who manages the BECE school placement process?
The BECE school placement is managed by the Ministry of Education through the Free SHS Secretariat, using the Computerized School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS).