About 55,000 candidates who sat for the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) this year will not qualify for placement under the Computerised School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS).

This was revealed by the Secretariat Coordinator, Sherif Sulemana, during an appearance on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show on Thursday, September 3.

He explained that out of the approximately 620,000 candidates who sat for the examination, about 565,000 qualified for placement under the centralised system.

“There are about 55,000,” he stated when asked about the number of candidates who did not qualify for placement. “Based on our analysis, we have about 565,000 qualified for placement this year,” he said.

Why candidates missed placement

Mr Sulemana explained that a candidate’s eligibility for placement is largely based on their performance in English Language and Mathematics, noting that candidates who failed either of the two subjects would not qualify for placement.

His comments come as authorities prepare to place candidates into Senior High Schools (SHSs) and Senior High Technical Schools across the country.

According to Mr Sulemana, the examination results also revealed varying levels of performance among candidates, with a considerable number recording low scores in some of the core subjects.

“You find out somebody got one, somebody got ten over 100, somebody got, say, twelve, twenty over 100, and that qualifies as a failure,” he said.

On the overall performance of candidates, Mr Sulemana said only about 17 per cent obtained aggregates ranging from 6 to 18.

“If you look at the data for the performance of the candidates, we only had about 17 per cent of the candidates getting aggregates from 6 to 18,” he said.

He noted that this represented approximately 107,000 candidates.

Mr Sulemana further indicated that about 35 per cent of candidates, representing approximately 252,000 students, obtained aggregates ranging from 6 to 24.

“We only had about 252,000, or about 35 per cent of the candidates, getting from aggregate 6 to 24,” he added.

Candidates results witheldMeanwhile, the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has withheld the subject results of 2,722 candidates from 229 schools who sat for the 2026 BECE over their alleged involvement in examination malpractice.

WAEC has also cancelled the entire results of 601 candidates for engaging in various forms of examination malpractice.

The development was contained in a press statement signed by the Head of Public Affairs at WAEC, John K. Kapi, on Wednesday, July 29.

According to WAEC, the decision was approved at the 37th Meeting of the Final Awards and Examiners’ Appointment Committee for the BECE, held on July 21.

The release of the BECE results has paved the way for the placement of successful candidates into Senior High Schools across the country.

Commenting on the release of the results and the upcoming placement exercise, the Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu, assured the public that he would not interfere in the work of WAEC.

“As I've always indicated as Minister, I don't interfere with the work of assessment institutions like WAEC. It is within their domain,” Mr Iddrisu said.

Mr Iddrisu, however, acknowledged the challenges parents and students face during the school placement process, particularly due to limited infrastructure and the growing demand for senior high school education.

While conceding that available resources have not been sufficient to address the issue in its entirety, he said the government was pursuing measures to bridge the gap.

Among the measures is the Sustainable Development for Improved Access to Tertiary Education and Jobs (STAR-J) project, which seeks to strengthen and expand infrastructure within the education sector.