How to calculate your BECE aggregate score?

Key takeaways

• The BECE uses a nine-point grading scale, with 1 being the highest and 9 the lowest.
• The aggregate score is the sum of the grades of your best three core and three elective subjects.
• The BECE aggregate score determines your school placement and other opportunities like scholarships.

The Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) is the final exam for Junior High School students in Ghana. Passing the exam allows you to further your education in a public senior high school or vocational institution. In this guide, we show you how to calculate your aggregate score from your results.

How is the BECE graded?

The BECE grading system uses numbers to grade candidates based on their total scores. It’s a nine-point scale, where grades 1 is the highest and 9 is the lowest. For each subject, the final score is composed of 70% from the external examination (the BECE) and 30% from continuous assessment.

Grades 1–3 show that you have a perfect understanding of the subject, while grades 4–6 mean a reasonable and fair understanding. Grades 7–9 show that a student has a developing understanding of the subject, which is not necessarily a failure.

How to calculate your BECE results?

Now that you understand the grades on your BECE results let’s calculate your aggregate score. The BECE aggregate score is the sum of your best three grades in core subjects and your best three grades in elective subjects, making a total of six grades.

The core subjects include English Language, Mathematics, General Science, and Social Studies, with English and Math carrying significant weight.

Elective subjects are Religious and Moral Education, Career Technology, Creative Arts & Design, and Ghanaian Language, while optional subjects such as French, Arabic, and Computing are considered only if you wrote them.

Example BECE aggregate calculation

Let’s say Ernest Boadi is your friend who wrote the BECE and got the following results:

• English Language: 2
• Social Studies: 5
• Religious and Moral Education: 2
• Mathematics: 3
• Integrated Science: 4
• Career Technology: 3
• French: 5
• Asante Twi
• Creative Arts & Design: 2

To calculate his BECE aggregate score, we’ll pick his best three grades among core subjects (English Language: 2, Mathematics: 3, and Integrated Science: 4). The sum is: 2 + 3 + 4 = 9

We’ll also add his best three grades from the elective subjects (Religious and Moral Education: 2, Career Technology: 3, and Creative Arts & Design: 2). That is:  2 + 3 + 2 = 7

Finally, to get the total aggregate score, we’ll add the best three core and elective grades. In this example, Ernest Boadi’s total BECE aggregate score will be 9 + 7, which is 16.

Quick tip: For a quick and accurate assessment, you can use our BECE aggregate score calculator to easily determine your top six results.

Why your BECE aggregate score is important

In the Ghana education system, your BECE aggregate score matters a lot. Besides showing that you have a good understanding of the subjects you studied, here are three other reasons why you must learn hard to get a better aggregate:

1. School placement: Your aggregate score determines your placement into Senior High Schools (SHS) and technical institutes.
2. Scholarship opportunities: High scores can open up opportunities for scholarships, reducing the financial burden of further education.
3. Future opportunities: Your BECE aggregate score impacts your academic and influences the opportunities available to you.

Note: Ghana Education Service (GES) uses a Computerised School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS) to place junior high school students based on their aggregate and total raw scores in the best six subjects.

FAQs

What is a good aggregate score in BECE?

A good aggregate score in BECE is anything between 6 and 18. Aim for higher aggregate scores to increase your chances of gaining admission to a preferred senior high school, technical, or vocational institute.

What is the BECE aggregate cut-off to get a school placement?

The BECE aggregate cut-off point for school placement is 30. However, it depends on demand and available space in different senior high schools. In competitive academic years, cut-off points can be lower, while in less competitive years, they may be higher.

What is the highest raw score in BECE?

The highest raw score you can achieve in BECE is 600, which is a sum of perfect scores (marks) in your best three core subjects and best three elective subjects. However, the specific raw score to pass a subject can change from year to year based on the difficulty of the exams and the performance of other candidates.

Summary

Understanding how to calculate your BECE aggregate score is important if you want to be placed in senior high schools. To summarise, you must add your best three core and three best elective subjects to get your BECE aggregate score.

We hope that by mastering this calculation, you can confidently determine your aggregate score from your BECE results. If you have any questions from the steps above, we’ll be happy to help.