The examination, which will be a Ghana based version of the WASSCE, will be conducted from the date Monday, 5th August to Friday, 27th September, 2024. The Council wishes to stress that despite the difference in the period for the conduct of the examination, the standard of the examination remains unchanged.
Question papers are compiled by officers across the member countries. At the end of the examination, International Preliminary Coordination Meetings are held to finalize draft marking schemes.
Further, right after the marking exercise, the International Awards Committee meets to determine the grade boundaries for all subjects. These processes ensure that the examination written by Ghana only, still maintains its International status.
The final timetable for the examination will be made available to all schools and will be updated on the Ratvad website as well. Candidates are advised to contact their schools or visit the WAEC website for the accurate timetable. Candidates should refrain from downloading timetables from unverifiable websites.
- Eligibility for School Examinations
As the name implies, the WASSCE for School Candidates and BECE for School Candidates are available to students in the third/final year of regular Senior and Junior High School only. It is therefore against the rules and regulations of the examination for schools to engage in the following activities:
- Register students who have not been enrolled in senior/junior high school from their first year and progressed through to the third year and do not have the required continuous assessment records. The grading for the school examinations is 70% external examination score and 30% continuous assessment score. If for some reason some students are transferred from one school to another, they should have evidence of the necessary continuous assessment/cumulative records;
- Register students who are not in the final year or are not bona fide students of the school in question. Reports reaching us indicate that students from some Public Schools are enticed with the assurance of obtaining excellent grades and are therefore moving to some of the Private Schools to register for the examination;
- Register students who have previously written the WASSCE (SC) but need better grades in one or more subjects and who join some public/accredited private schools in form three for examination purposes only. Such students are advised to register for the WASSCE for Private Candidates which has been specifically designed for them and offers them the opportunity to register for the number of subjects they wish to take.
- Solicit for students by advertising the WASSCE for School Candidates in any form e.g. in the print, electronic or social media. The Council wishes to caution parents and the general public against registering for the examination with “banner schools”, many of whom lack any of the requisite facilities to run as regular schools. They are set up for the sole purpose of registering candidates for the examination. The schools put out phone numbers on the banners and request prospective candidates to meet them at various locations for registration for the examination at very exorbitant fees.
We wish to inform our publics that the approved WAEC registration fee for entry in 7 to 9 subjects is GH¢465.00. This figure is exclusive of the fees for practical or oral tests which range between GH¢14.50 and GH¢19.50 per test.
School authorities should note that sanctions for the registration of non-school/unqualified candidate(s) for school examinations and the fabrication and/or falsification of continuous assessment scores for the candidates are:
- De-recognition of the affected school for not less than 1 year;
- Report made to the Ministry of Education or the appropriate WAEC Board for disciplinary action against the person(s) responsible;
- Withholding of the entire results of the non-school/unqualified candidate, pending the outcome of investigation by the appropriate Committee of the Council.
- Registration Process for the 2024 Examinations
The Council has held briefing sessions nationwide for authorities of all schools who are expected to present candidates for the examinations. During the briefing sessions, it was emphasised that school authorities should take note of the following during the registration process:
- Correct spelling and arrangement of names in the right order i.e. Surname, First Name and Other Names; e.g. SARPONG MICHAEL KOFI
- Confirmation of Date of Birth by candidates before finalisation of the registration process;
- Proper capturing of candidates’ photographs showing candidate’s face and both ears without sunglasses or spectacles;
- Registration of candidates for the right subjects.
It is important for all candidates to ensure that their bio data is captured accurately before appending their signatures certifying the correctness of their entries on the statement forms.
School authorities should ensure that they register candidates for the correct Ghanaian Language as well as other options available to them as no amendment of date of birth, re-arrangement/addition or subtraction of names will be entertained after the release of final results and printing of certificates.
Once again, Heads of School are being cautioned against the registration of unqualified candidates which could lead to the nullification of a candidate’s results.