2023 BECE Grading System – EduWatch Writes

The executive director of EduWatch, Kofi Asare has revealed the kind of grading system WAEC uses to grade candidates after BECE.

In a Facebook post monitored by Ghanaeducation.org, Mr Kofi Asare revealed that WAEC uses the stanine grading for the BECE. According to him, the grading structure has been pre-determined. This means, WAEC knows the number of candidates who will get a certain grade in a particular subject of the BECE.

Below is full post.

“WAEC uses the Stanine grading system for BECE. It is norm-referenced, meaning, the result’s architecture is pre-determined.

Under Stanine, the % of candidates who will obtain Grade 1-9 is virtually fixed, so you must justify your inclusion into that percentage. For example:

Only 4% of candidates can get Grade 1.

Only 7% of candidates can get Grade 2

Only 12% of candidates can get Grade 3

And 4% will always get Grade 9.

Etc..(see attached)

This means, you can have 90% in Math and still be in the second 7% (Grade 2), simply because 4% i.e. 24k out of the 600k Maths candidates already scored 91-100% in that subject. NB: Not more than 4% can have Grade 1.

So, you see, the fact that your ward is No.1 in their school may not guarantee Grade 1. But if your ward is a Grade A student, you should know.As Eduwatch always recommends, ideally, BECE results must be available before school selection.

Until that time, know your child, and select reasonably.” he wrote.

According to EduWatch, it will be best if the school selection is done after the results have been released.

2023 BECE Grading System

The grade for 90–100 is 1, GRADE AA+. It is the HIGHEST grade that can be given.
The second group in this classification is 80–89, which gets a grade of 2, GRADE A. It has the sign HIGHER.
70–79 is a grade 3, which is a B+ and is called HIGH.
60–69 is grade 4, GRADE B, which is a HIGH AVERAGE.
55 to 60 is a GRADE C+, which is a 5 and means “average.”
The term “LOW AVERAGE” refers to grades between 50 and 54, which is GRADE C, or number 6 on the grading scale.

Any score between 40 and 49 is called a GRADE D+, and a score of 7 is called LOW.
35–39 is GRADE E, which is number 8 on the Stanine scale and means LOWER.
GRADE F, 9, with a number 9, is the WORST grade, which ranges from 0 to 34