WAEC urged to ‘counsel’ JHS graduates with BECE results withheld

The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has been urged to provide psychological counselling for candidates whose Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) results have been withheld or cancelled.

This comes after 93 candidates and 1,240 others had their examina­tion results withheld, while 718 candidates had some subject results cancelled and 177 candidates had their entire results annulled.

The Executive Director of the Holistic Counsel­ling and Coaching Institute (HCCI), Apostle James Kofi Abbrey, who made the call, stressed that such students often suffer trauma and risk losing hope in their future aspirations,

According to the Holistic Counsel­ling and Coaching Institute Executive Director, the West African Examinations Council must offer professional sup­port before asking them to rewrite the examination.

Speaking to The Ghanaian Times at a graduation ceremony in Accra last Saturday, where 102 individuals received certificates in Counselling and Psychology, he emphasised the need for schools nationwide to have trained counsel­lors to prepare students for both the psychological and emotional challenges associated with exam­inations.

“Normally, when students are preparing for exams, some schools consult our Institute to send counsellors to prepare them psy­chologically, socially, and spiritually. Anything can happen in the exam hall or after the exams. The Coun­cil must ensure these children are emotionally ready before rewriting their papers,” he explained.

In a related development, the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) on September 9, 2025, released the withheld results for the 2025 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) for Private Candidates.

The withheld private BECE results release comes after the Head of Public Affairs at WAEC, John Kapi, in an interview monitored by Pretertiary.com, said that investigations into the withheld results have been completed and final decisions made.

“By today or tomorrow, we should upload all the results, especially for those whose results were withheld, so they will know their status — whether their results have been cancelled or released — to enable them to proceed with their education,” the WAEC official said in the radio interview.

He explained that the early release of provisional results over the weekend aimed to address challenges candidates may have faced during processing and to ensure timely placement into Senior High Schools.

Mr Kapi indicated that a total of 1,661 candidates, made up of 858 males and 803 females, participated in the private BECE across 15 centres nationwide, with 33 candidates absent and the results of three withheld over suspected examination irregularities.

This year, a total of 603,328 candidates, comprising 297,250 males and 306,078 females, from nineteen thousand, five hundred and five (19,505) Junior High Schools (JHSs) entered for the school examination.

This includes seventy-two (72 ) candidates with visual impairment, two hundred and thirty-nine (239) with hearing impairment, and one hundred and sixty-one (161) candidates with other test accommodation needs.

The examination was conducted at two thousand, two hundred and thirty-seven (2,237 ) centres across the country. Out of the total number, two thousand, five hundred and twenty-six (2,526) candidates were absent.

The BECE for Private Candidates recorded a total entry figure of one thousand, three hundred and ninety (1,661) candidates. This was made up of eight hundred and fifty-eight (858) males and eight hundred and three (803 ) females.

Fifteen (15) centres, mostly in the regional capitals, were used for the BECE for Private Candidates. Out of the total number of candidates who entered for the examination, fifty-seven (57) were absent.

While the percentage increase in the number of candidates for the School Candidates was 5.99%, that of the Private Candidates was 19.49%. The provisional results of the BECE for School Candidates were released on August 23, 2025.

Candidates who infringed on the rules governing the conduct of the examination were appropriately sanctioned following the conclusion of investigations carried out and upon the advice of the relevant committee of the Council.