How 2025 WASSCE Results Reflect the Impact of BECE Performance and the Placement of Weak Students Under Free SHS

Ghana’s 2025 WASSCE Results Reignite Debate Over Free SHS and Foundational Gaps in Basic Education

Ghana’s disappointing 2025 WASSCE outcomes—particularly in Core Mathematics—have reignited national debate over the country’s education reforms, the quality of basic schooling, and the lingering effects of the Free Senior High School (Free SHS) policy.

Following the release of the results, analysts, parents and educators have expressed growing concern that the collapse of academic standards at the foundational level is now fully reflected in the poor performance at the senior high school level. The latest figures from the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) validate these fears.

According to WAEC’s Head of Public Relations, John Kapi, over 96,000 fewer candidates attained the required A1–C6 pass in Core Mathematics compared to 2024. Only 48.73% of candidates met the minimum benchmark for tertiary admission—a drastic decline described as “deeply troubling” by examiners.

Yet WAEC insists the 2025 Mathematics paper was not unusually complex. “The challenge came from the candidates’ own weaknesses, not the quality of the paper,” Mr. Kapi emphasized during an interview on Channel One TV’s The Point of View.

A Systemic Problem, Not a One-Year Decline

Educational observers argue that the poor performance is not an isolated event but a symptom of deeper structural weaknesses—many dating back to the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) stage.

With the introduction of Free SHS came the removal of cut-off points for senior high school placement. As a result, students scoring as high as aggregate 48 in BECE have been admitted into SHSs year after year. Such candidates typically struggle in core subjects—Mathematics, Science, and English—and enter secondary school with fragile academic foundations.

Stakeholders now argue that without robust BECE diagnostic data—particularly pass/fail statistics for core subjects—it is difficult to properly interpret national WASSCE performance trends. Calls are intensifying for WAEC to publish BECE performance breakdowns just as it does for WASSCE.

Seven Key Weaknesses Behind the Mathematics Failures

The Chief Examiners identified seven critical deficits that severely undermined student performance in Core Mathematics this year. They include:

• Difficulty representing mathematical information in diagrams

• Inability to solve global or real-life mathematics problems

• Weakness in constructing cumulative frequency tables

• Challenges interpreting real-life data

• Inability to translate word problems into mathematical expressions

• Poor understanding of simple interest calculations

• Misinterpretation of cumulative frequency curves

  

These weaknesses, examiners noted, reflect poor conceptual foundations rather than a lack of exam preparation alone.

Beyond Mathematics—Social Studies Also Suffers

Social Studies, another key requirement for university admission, also recorded significant challenges. Many candidates failed to:

• Explain government policies designed to improve livelihoods

• Analyse how extravagant funerals impede national development

• Discuss Ghana’s cooperation with UN agencies coherently

• Demonstrate basic critical thinking and application skills

These deficiencies, experts warn, point to a worrying literacy and comprehension crisis that cannot be ignored.

A Call for Solutions, Not Blame

While some stakeholders blame poor student attitudes, others point to concerns over teacher quality, overcrowded classrooms, and political interference in school placements—especially the admission of weak-performing students into top-tier institutions through protocol.

WAEC says it is committed to working with the Ministry of Education and other partners to implement targeted interventions that address these root causes rather than merely treating symptoms.

“Our findings provide a roadmap for remedial action. We will continue to collaborate with all stakeholders to strengthen teaching and learning,” Mr. Kapi assured.

The 2025 WASSCE results have become more than an annual performance review—they are now an urgent wake-up call. From the basic school level to national policy, Ghana’s education system is confronting consequences years in the making.

As the nation digests the data, one thing is clear: without bold reforms, better foundational teaching, and a renewed commitment to quality, the cycle of poor performance will continue—at the cost of Ghana’s future human capital.