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GES Directs Basic Schools to Upload 2026 BECE Candidates’ School Choices for CSSPS Placement

The Ghana Education Service (GES) has directed Regional Directors of Education to ensure that Heads of Basic Schools upload the school choices of candidates who participated in the 2026 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) onto the Computerised School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS).

The directive is contained in a letter, with reference number GES/HQ/DG/494/2026, and signed by the GES Director-General, Prof. Ernest K. Davis.

What the GES directive means

The latest directive is part of the ongoing process to place successful 2026 BECE candidates into Senior High Schools (SHSs), Senior High Technical Schools and TVET institutions for the 2026/2027 academic year.

Unlike previous arrangements in which students selected schools before writing the BECE, the 2026 process introduced an important change: candidates are selecting their preferred second-cycle institutions after the release of their examination results.

The change is intended to allow candidates and their parents or guardians to make more informed choices based on the candidates’ actual BECE performance.

The 2026 CSSPS guidelines require candidates to select schools in order of preference while also indicating their preferred programmes and residential status.

When will the school choices be uploaded?

The GES has given a three-day period for the upload exercise.

Start date:

Wednesday, 19 August 2026

Closing date:

Friday, 21 August 2026

The exercise will be carried out by Heads of Basic Schools through the CSSPS platform.

The GES says the upload is necessary for pre-testing before WAEC opens the school choice-selection portal.

This means school authorities are being asked to ensure that candidates’ selections are correctly entered into the system ahead of the next stage of the placement process.

Step-by-step procedure for uploading candidates’ choices

According to the GES notice, Heads of Basic Schools are expected to follow these steps:

Step 1: Log into the CSSPS portal

School heads should access the official CSSPS platform.

The official CSSPS website currently provides services including Choice Confirmation, Edit Choices, Placement Checking and Self-Placement.

Step 2: Select “Choice Confirmations”

After logging into the platform, the school head should click on the “Choice Confirmations” option.

Step 3: Enter the candidate’s details

The candidate’s:

BECE Index Number
Date of Birth

should be entered as required.

Step 4: Click on “Edit”

The “Edit” option should then be selected to enable the school to input the candidate’s school selections.

Step 5: Carefully verify and submit

Before submitting, school authorities should carefully check the information entered to ensure that the candidate’s choices have been accurately captured.

This final verification is particularly important because school choices play an important role in the CSSPS placement process.

How many schools can a 2026 BECE candidate select?

Under the 2026 SHS/TVET School Selection and CSSPS Placement Guide, candidates are required to select eight schools in order of preference.

The current guidelines allow candidates to select:

A maximum of two Category A schools
Up to three Category B schools
The remaining three choices from Category C schools

Candidates must not select the same school more than once. They must also indicate their preferred programmes and whether they want boarding or day placement.

The guidelines also permit a maximum of five boarding choices and three day choices.

Placement is not based on aggregate alone

One important point parents and candidates should understand is that obtaining a particular BECE aggregate does not automatically guarantee placement into a particular school.

According to the 2026 CSSPS guidelines, placement considers several factors, including:

The candidate’s BECE performance
School choices
Programme selected
Boarding or day preference
Availability of vacancies

The GES has therefore stressed that aggregate is important, but it is not the only factor determining placement.

This makes the order in which candidates rank their preferred schools particularly important.

Why the 2026 selection process is different

The 2026 school selection exercise introduced a major change in the timing of school selection.

Previously, BECE candidates selected their preferred second-cycle institutions before sitting the examination.

For 2026, the selection exercise was moved to after the release of the BECE results.

The objective is to enable candidates to make choices based on their actual examination performance rather than selecting schools without knowing their final results.

More than 620,000 BECE graduates participated in the 2026 school-selection exercise, according to reports on the process. A total of 620,243 candidates, comprising 304,415 males and 315,828 females from 20,789 schools, entered the examination.

Why the change matters

The new arrangement could help reduce some of the challenges that have traditionally emerged during the CSSPS placement exercise.

Previously, candidates could select highly competitive schools without knowing whether their eventual BECE results would make them competitive for those institutions.

When many candidates selected the same highly competitive schools, some applicants were subsequently left without placement in their preferred institutions and had to use self-placement or seek assistance at resolution centres.

The post-results selection approach is designed to encourage candidates to make more realistic choices based on their performance.

What parents and candidates should do

Parents and candidates should take the school-selection process seriously.

Before finalising choices, they should consider:

1. The candidate’s BECE performance

Candidates should assess their results realistically and avoid choosing only extremely competitive schools.

2. Programme of study

Students should consider the programme they want to pursue and whether it aligns with their future educational or career interests.

3. School category

Candidates should understand the differences between Category A, B and C schools and distribute their choices appropriately within the permitted guidelines.

4. Boarding or day status

The candidate must indicate whether they prefer boarding or day placement.

For day students, the official guidelines advise choosing schools within a reasonable travelling distance from home.

5. Order of preference

Candidates should place their most preferred school first and rank the remaining choices accordingly.

The role of the CSSPS

The Computerised School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS) is the mechanism used to match eligible BECE candidates with second-cycle institutions.

The official CSSPS portal describes the system as one designed to match graduating junior high school students with SHS and TVET institutions based on factors including academic performance, programme preferences and available vacancies.

The system includes different services for candidates, including:

Placement checking
Self-placement
Choice confirmation
Editing choices
Re-entry
Foreign-student placement

What happens after the school-choice stage?

Once the selection and verification stages are completed, the information will feed into the broader CSSPS placement process.

Candidates who are successfully placed will eventually be able to obtain placement information showing their assigned:

School
Programme
Boarding/day status
Reporting information

The official CSSPS platform provides the facility for candidates to check placement information once the relevant placement service is open.

Candidates who are not automatically placed may subsequently have access to the appropriate self-placement process, subject to the rules and vacancies available at the time.