BECE Common Mistakes to Avoid: Tips for Easy Passing (Video)

I have seen students fail the BECE/WASSCE and noticed how many under perform each year but paying critical attention to these “BECE Mistakes to Avoid to Pass Easily”, you should change the pattern.

Every Basic 9 student at the basic school level aims to pass the BECE; however, they also need to pay close attention and avoid these mistakes if they are to increase their chances of easily passing the examination. The tips shared in this post can be used by all learners in Basic 7 to 9 as well as SHS learners. Use them as a teacher to guide your learners. Use them as students to improve your question-answering skills, and finally, apply the skills when answering questions in school, be it classwork, homework, quizzes, or even end-of-term examinations. Make them part of your study and practice with them.

All The BECE Mistakes to Avoid to Pass Easily

In this post, we look at the top mistakes all BECE candidates must avoid to pass easily.

#1. Failing to read questions with an understanding

Students who are preparing for the examination must develop the skill of reading and understanding questions. Do not read a question once and assume that you have understood it. At best, read it a second or third time to be sure you know what the question wants you to do.

Let’s take a look at one example using an English composition question.

Question 1: Write how you celebrated your Easter holiday with your best friend.

To answer this question, ask yourself…

[a] Is this a letter or a descriptive essay?

[b] What are the features of this kind of essay?

Let us answer the above questions before we proceed.

[a] This is not a letter, but rather a descriptive essay. If you fail to read the question well, you will be quick to judge that it is a letter to a friend. “Write how you celebrated your Easter holiday for your best friend.” did not mention any things about the letter, hence it is purely a descriptive essay.

If the question had been worded as “Write a letter about how you celebrated your Easter holiday to your friend,” Then this turns into a letter. It becomes a letter because the word “letter” is used in the question.

[b] The features of a descriptive essay include the following:

You must have a title for the descriptive essay. You must write the title in capital letters, center it, and underline it neatly. A title example is “How I Celebrated the Easter Holiday.”

II. Start the essay with a sentence without sending any greetings to anyone. Do not forget, it is not a letter. An example of an introduction for this descriptive essay is “Our second term vacation did not coincide with the 2024 Easter Holidays; however, we had a break to mark the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.”

III. Indicate the date (from when when you had the break and celebrated Easter). Where did you go to celebrate? Did you travel? If yes, with whom?

III. Outline the events and programmes you are attending, as well as your observations, participation, and lessons learned.

Other examples of narrative or descriptive essays that may look like letters. Do well to avoid deviating.

1. As the youngest of three children, explain to your uncle how you intend to spend your vacation after BECE.
2. Explain to your aunt, who is a chef, how your favourite food is prepared.

In the additional two examples, there is no mention of the word letter; hence, do not be tempted to write a letter.

Always do well to avoid deviating, and this starts with first reading the question very well, no matter the subject.

#2. Failing to brainstorm questions and plan answers

For many students, there is nothing like brainstorming questions. To brainstorm questions and plan answers simply means carefully thinking about the questions and jotting down all potential points or answers to be explained for that question. It also includes deciding which of the points to explain first and second in that order for the question. If you do not do this, you will make a lot of errors, which can lead to poor grades and results.

Let us take a look at a question in social studies:

Q1. [a] Using the map of Ghana provided, help your basic two brothers know the location of five locations where each of Ghana’s minerals are exploited. We are assuming that the map is provided as part of the exam question.

[b] List t[b] List the four benefits that natural resources bring to Ghana’s economy (12 Makrs).

Let us brainstorm the above questions.

Q1. [a]… Since the map has been drawn in the question, you have to re-draw it and then indicate the various resources using conventional symbols.

The locations you may consider are Obuasi, Nsuta, Ada, etc. for gold, bauxite, and salt, among others.

The map must have the title “Map of Ghana Showing Where Minerals Are Mined.

The map must have a key or a legend so that anyone who takes it can read it without asking a question.

The map must have a true north arrow for easy interpretation as well.

If you do not draw the map but list the towns where each mineral is mined, you will score zero. Sadly, this is how many students answer such questions.

In Career Technology and Creative Arts and Design, you can have such a question, and you have to be careful how you answer it. Let us take a look at one example here.

[a] Make a free-hand sketch of a saw.

[b] Label the two parts.

The two questions above are answered as one. That means you sketch and label the parts.

Don’t draw; instead, write [b] and list the parts. This is also wrong.

Now let us look at [b] State 4 benefits of natural resources to the economy of Ghana.

This question, although it uses state demands more than just that. The question means to explain the points and support them with one example. If you write answers less than words and write meaningless long sentences, you are likely to score zero or very low marks.

If you brainstorm this question, the points will include the following:

1. Employment
2. Foreign Exchange
3. Tax revenue
4. Foreign investors to develop mines

If you write sentences such as those below as answers, you will earn just 1 mark for each point or answer.

1. It creates employment for people.
2. It gives the government foreign exchange
3. The government gets money from tax revenue.
4. Foreign investors come and develop mines for Ghana.
5. Sources of food and medicine

These answers are weak and will not help you score 12 out of 12.

Consider expanding the points and supporting them with examples as follows:.

1. Ghana’s natural resources help create employment for miners, fishermen, engineers, and others who earn income from their jobs to cater for themselves and their families.
2. It gives the government foreign exchange when some of these natural resources, such as gold, timber, and crude oil, are exported by the country. Ghana uses the received money to develop its infrastructure.
3. The government of Ghana taxes workers employed in the exploiting of natural resources such as gold, timber exports, and others. Companies also pay taxes to the government, which is used to develop the country.
4. Foreign investors bring a lot of money from their country to develop and mine the natural resources of Ghana. The money they invest helps develop the country.

READ: Everything you need to know about the 2025 BECE

The points expanded here, you would agree, have more meaning than just listing them.

#3: Failing to read through your work

Students make the mistake of not reading through their answers before submitting them. There are always errors to be corrected in answers; hence, at least the last 10 minutes in the exam hall are allocated to correcting these errors. The more errors you correct, the better your chances of doing well in the examination.

Watch out for part two of the mistakes BECE candidates must avoid to pass easily in our future posts.

Source: Ghanaeducationnews.org