The Ghana Education Service (GES) has announced that candidates who sat for the 2026 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) will begin selecting their senior high schools from Monday, July 20, to Friday, August 7, 2026.
The GES has directed all regional directors of education to notify metropolitan, municipal and district directors to ensure the smooth implementation of the nationwide exercise.
The directive was contained in a circular signed by the Director of the Schools and Instructions Division of the GES, Prince Agyemang-Duah.
GES schedules nationwide training
As part of preparations, the GES has invited metropolitan, municipal and district directors of education to participate in a nationwide training and sensitisation programme on the 2026 Selection Guidelines and Placement Procedures.
The exercise will take place from Wednesday, July 15, to Tuesday, July 29, 2026.
According to the circular dated July 6, 2026, the training aims to equip education officials with a better understanding of the revised selection guidelines and enable them to supervise the process effectively.
“This training and sensitisation exercise is intended to provide deeper insight into the selection guidelines and enable you to offer effective oversight throughout the exercise,” the circular stated.
New policy changes school selection process
Unlike previous years, candidates will now select their second-cycle schools after writing the BECE rather than before the examination.
The revised policy is intended to allow candidates to assess their academic performance and strengths before making their choices.
Under the new guidelines, each candidate must select eight senior high schools, an increase from the seven schools permitted last year.
Candidates will also be required to choose two Category ‘A’ schools, with one selected as a boarding school and the other as a day school within their district.
The changes form part of efforts to improve the Computerised School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS), reduce placement challenges and ensure a smoother admission process after the release of results.
More than 620,000 candidates sat for BECE
The 2026 BECE was conducted from May 4 to May 11, 2026.
A total of 620,141 candidates, made up of 304,349 boys and 315,792 girls, sat for the examination. The figure represents an increase of nearly 2.7 per cent over last year’s entry.
The candidates came from 20,395 schools and wrote the examination at 2,303 centres nationwide.
The examination was supervised by 2,303 supervisors, supported by 2,070 assistant supervisors and 21,791 invigilators.
GES assures all qualified candidates of placement
The GES has reiterated that every qualified candidate will be placed in a senior high school or technical institution.
In a statement issued on May 14, 2026, the Service dismissed reports suggesting that about 72,000 students could miss out on placement.
It described the reports as speculative and urged the public to disregard them.
The GES also stated that adequate infrastructure and facilities have been provided across the country to accommodate all qualified students when the 2026 academic year begins on September 18.
