2026 BECE: Everything you need to know, including cut-off points

The 2026 BECE, which is the final examination for students in basic 9, will be a special examination to be administered by WAEC in May 2026.

It is projected that over 600,000 candidates will sit the final examination across the country.

In this detailed write-up, we discuss the subjects to be administered, the BECE cutoff points for 2026, and sample BECE questions and answers, among others.

All you need to know about the 2026 BECE

2026 BECE Exam Date

The 2026 BECE will be held by WAEC from 4th May to 11th May, 2026. Candidates are to write two subjects each day from Monday to Friday, while a final subject, which is Arabic, will be written on Monday, the last day of the exam. This will be the second time WAEC will carry out the BECE for 6 days instead of the usual 5 days.

The 2026 examination will be the third to be written using the 2019 Common Core Curriculum released by NaCCA for use by the Ghana Education Service.

2026 BECE EXAM TIMETABLE

WAEC is yet to release the final 2026 BECE timetable to schools However, candidates will be expected to write Social Studies and Computing on day one of the exam.

2026 BECE

The BECE registration is yet to start. It will include phase one, during which schools will collect data including names of students, subjects to be written, age, date of birth, disability if any, and the all-important photo album

The new curriculum includes three new subjects, with two of them being created from the previous Basic Design and Technology course. These two new subjects are creative arts and design and career technology.

Since 2024, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has become computing due to the vast changes made to the curriculum.

BBECE NACCA/WAEC type of mocks and answers for BECE

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Schools, teachers, and parents can help their students prepare for the BECE with the top-class mock questions from Education-News Consult.

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STILL RELEVANT 2024 AND 2025 BECE MOCK QUESTIONS

2024 RELEVANT MOCK QUESTIONS FOR 2026 BECE PREPARATION – Buy

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The 2026 BECE will also see WAEC administer only one set of exam questions to all BECE candidates. In the recent past, two different sets of BECE questions were administered at the same time.

While school candidates from public and private schools will be examined based on the new curriculum, those who sat and failed the 2023 BECE and earlier exams were administered questions set from the old curriculum in the past.

But in 2026, those who failed the 2024 and 2025 BECE and want to resit the BECE will be administered the same questions as those of the 2026 school candidates. This means WAEC will administer the same question to all BECE candidates in 2026.

Sample BECE Questions From NaCCA

NaCCA released the first set of sample questions for the BECE in 2024 based on the Common Core Curriculum.

Check all the available SAMPLE 2024 BECE questions, which are very relevant to the next BECE candidates, from the following sources:

• BUY NACCA/WAEC-type of mocks and answers for BECE here – Buy
• 2024 BECE Social Studies Sample Questions Released
• 2024 BECE English Language Sample Questions From GES and NaCCA
• 2024 BECE Integrated Science Sample Questions from GES & NaCCA
• 2024 BECE Mathematics Sample Questions Released
• Download 2024 BECE Sample Questions From GES and MoE

Subjects WAEC will administer during 2026 BECE

In the 2026 BECE, the new Common Core Curriculum will require students to answer practical questions or questions that require the application of knowledge and critical thinking, as was the case in 2024 and 2025.

The new Common Core Curriculum calls for writing in the following subjects:

1. English Language
2. Mathematics
3. Social Studies
4. Religious and Moral Education
5. Integrated Science
6. Computing
7. Creative Art and Design
8. Career Technology.
9. French Language
10. Ghanaian Language
11. Arabic

While students writing the new Common Core Curriculum exam will write up to 10 subjects, a total of 11 subjects will be administered. Students will not write less than 9 subjects in the exam.

The examination is expected to have the following types of questions:

1. Direct questions (For Private BECE candidates only)
2. Application questions (For School BECE candidates registered by public and private schools only)
3. Questions that demand critical thinking (For School BECE candidates registered by public and private schools only)
4. Logic reasoning (For School BECE candidates registered by public and private schools only)

Fortunately, WAEC and the NaCCA have finally released sample questions for schools, teachers, students, and parents.

Schools that need excellent examination questions, just like those released by WAEC and NaCCA, can contact Education-News Consult for external mock examination questions and answers to help test their students with the various forms of examination questions outlined above.

READ: Juaben Model JHS unveiled in trending video by MoE and GES

Due to the possible examination of students’ application questions, critical thinking or reasoning questions, as well as logic reasoning questions, schools and teachers must also do well to teach their candidates how to answer such questions. This will help improve the question-answering skills of learners ahead of the BECE.

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What is the 2026 BECE grading system?

At the end of marking, WAEC will apply its official grading system to determine what grade, ranging from 1 to 9, a candidate scored. Often grades from 1 to 5 are the best if a candidate is to easily gain admission to SHS. However, the smaller the grade, the better.

Below is the grading system for the 2026 BECE if WAEC does not make any changes. Candidates should aim at scoring higher grades in their examination. 

1. 90-100 is graded as 1. It is the HIGHEST grade in the grading system.
2. 80-89, the second category in this classification, is graded as 2, GRADE A. it is denoted as HIGHER.
3. 70-79, is grade 3, a B+ and is described as HIGH.
4. 60 -69 is grade 4, GRADE B, described as HIGH AVERAGE.
5. 55 – 60 is GRADE C+, classified as 5 and described as AVERAGE.
6. LOW AVERAGE is a description of marks falling between 50 and 54 and GRADE C, number 6 in the grading system.
7. Any mark ranging between 40 and 49 is considered as GRADE D+ and number 7; described as LOW
8. 35-39 is GRADE E, which is number 8, described as LOWER in the Stanine grading system.
9. GRADE F, characterized by 9, is the LOWEST grade, which falls between 0-34

BECE cut-off points for 2026 examination

While the government through the Ministry of Education has taken off the cutoff point, which used to be an aggregate of 30, candidates are to note that there still exist hidden cutoff points that can easily prevent them from getting placed in a “good” school. In many instances students are not placed at all.

Some of the BECE cut-off points for the 2026 examination are as follows.

1. The grade 9 cutoff point applies to English and mathematics. Students who obtain grade 9 in one or both subjects will not be placed in any secondary school even if they obtain grade 1 in all their remaining subjects.
2. Each of the three school categories has cutoff points in terms of the raw scores used to admit students. Candidates seeking placement into Category A schools must not obtain a raw score less than 390 to be safe. A raw score of not less than 340 is important if one is to be placed in a Category B school.
3. Candidates who choose boarding schools throughout may be cut off during placement if there are slots for admission but for day students.

READ: Buy NaCCA/WAEC Type of Questions May 2024 BECE Mock

The above and many other scenarios can serve as BECE cut-off points for candidates preparing for the BECE. Parents must consider a lot of factors and suggestions from teachers and schools to avoid these BECE cutoff points for 2026.

Source: Ghanaeducationnews.org