The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has commenced registration for the 2024 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE), West African Senior Schools Certificate Examination (WASSCE), and General/Advanced Business Certificate Examination candidates.

Registration for BECE candidates opened on Monday, March 11, 2024, and will close on Friday, April 19, 2024. The BECE exams are scheduled to be administered from Monday, July 8 to Friday, July 12, 2024.

WASSCE examinations will start on Monday, August 5, 2024, and conclude on September 27, 2024. The General/Advanced Business Certificate Examination (G/ABCE) is set to take place from Friday, August 2, 2024, to Monday, September 2, 2024.

John Kapi, Head of Public Affairs at the National Office of WAEC, made this announcement at a press conference in Accra. He also mentioned that the registration site for the G/ABCE opened on Tuesday, March 5, 2024, and will close on Friday, April 19, 2024.

Kapi explained that due to changes in the syllabus following the introduction of the common core curriculum, school candidates for BECE will be examined differently from private candidates.

“While school candidates would be examined based on the common core curriculum, the private candidates would be examined on the old syllabus. All private candidates are therefore to note and be careful when selecting their subjects.”

According to Mr. Kapi, the registration fee for the BECE per candidate is GH¢214.01, while the WASSCE registration fee for entry in seven to nine subjects is GH¢465.00.

“The figure is exclusive of the fees for practical or oral tests which range between GH¢14.50 and GH¢19.50 per test,” he added.

Mr. Kapi stated that the WASSCE examination would be a "Ghana-only version," with registration for private candidates taking place between Friday, October 25, 2024, and Wednesday, December 18, 2024.

The registration portal will be open from April 2 to August 30, 2024, and the examination fees will vary depending on the number of subjects a candidate registers for.

He emphasized that despite the change in the examination period, the standard of the exam would remain unchanged.

“Question papers are compiled by officers across the member countries. At the end of the examination, international preliminary coordination meets are held to finalise draft marking schemes.

“Furthermore, right after the marking scheme, 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,” he said.

Mr. Kapi clarified that the WASSCE and BECE for school candidates are only available to students in their third or final year of regular Senior and Junior High School.

He emphasized that it is against the examination’s rules and regulations for schools to register students who have not been enrolled in Senior/Junior High schools from their first years and have progressed to the third year without the required continuous assessment records.

“The grading for the school examination is 70 per cent external examination score and 30 per cent continuous examination score. If for some reason some students were transferred from one school to another, they should have evidence of the necessary continuous assessment / cumulative records.”

Mr. Kapi explained that WASSCE students aiming to improve their grades in one or more subjects were required to register as private candidates.

He also highlighted that the council had implemented reasonable adjustments to ensure that candidates with special educational needs could access the examination.

Furthermore, he mentioned that the council, as part of measures to ensure test security, had conducted inspections of schools that had requested accreditation to present candidates for the examination.