The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has dismissed allegations that it intentionally awards lower grades to candidates from private schools in the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE), insisting that its assessment procedures are impartial and transparent.
The Council was responding to concerns raised by the Ghana National Association of Private Schools (GNAPS), which questioned this year’s provisional BECE results and alleged inconsistencies that could affect students’ placement into senior high schools.
Addressing a press conference on Thursday, WAEC’s Head of Public Affairs, John Kapi, described the allegations as unfounded and assured stakeholders that the Council adheres to globally accepted standards in assessing and grading candidates.
“These allegations are false, misleading and have no factual basis. WAEC wishes to assure all stakeholders, parents, guardians, educational authorities, school proprietors and the public that the Council’s assessment and grading processes are guided by internationally accepted principles of fairness, consistency, objectivity and integrity,” he said.
Mr Kapi emphasised that WAEC does not distinguish between candidates from public and private schools during the marking process, noting that all examination scripts are assessed using the same marking guides and quality assurance procedures.
He explained that the BECE is graded using the stanine system, which ranks candidates according to their performance relative to the overall performance of all candidates who sat the examination.
According to him, the grading method is applied equally to every candidate, regardless of the type of school attended, to ensure fairness and consistency.
Responding to GNAPS’ request for an independent review of the provisional results, Mr Kapi said WAEC would not oppose such an exercise, provided its objectives are clearly defined and it is conducted by qualified professionals.
He also encouraged parents, schools and other stakeholders with concerns about the results to use the Council’s official channels to seek clarification instead of relying on speculation.
His comments follow a statement issued by GNAPS on Wednesday, August 5, in which the association called for an immediate audit of the 2026 provisional BECE results after receiving complaints from member schools across all 16 regions.
GNAPS argued that the reported grading inconsistencies raised questions about the accuracy of the results compilation process and the credibility of some grades awarded to candidates.
WAEC released the provisional 2026 BECE results on July 29, announcing that the subject results of 601 candidates had been cancelled due to examination malpractice.
The Council also withheld the complete results of 167 candidates and the subject results of 2,722 others while investigations into suspected examination irregularities continue.
