The Education Ministry says the failure of some qualified BECE candidates to secure automatic placement into their preferred Senior High Schools is not due to a lack of vacancies, but rather a mismatch between students’ choices and available spaces.
Deputy Education Minister, Dr Clement Apaak, says while the country has more than 859,000 vacancies across the secondary education system, a large number of candidates are competing for limited spaces in Category A schools.
According to the Ministry, 313,283 candidates selected Category A schools as their first choice, but only 76,417 vacancies were available in those schools.
The situation is different in Category B and C schools, where available spaces exceed the number of first-choice requests.
Category B schools have over 250,000 vacancies against about 176,000 first-choice requests, while Category C schools have more than 468,000 vacancies for about 124,000 first-choice requests.
Dr Apaak says the figures demonstrate that the challenge facing the Computerised School Selection and Placement System, CSSPS, is largely about where students want to go and where spaces are available.
He stresses that qualifying for secondary education does not guarantee placement in a candidate’s preferred school or programme.
To ease the pressure, government has included 85 private Senior High Schools in the Free SHS programme for the 2026/27 academic year.
The Ministry is encouraging candidates undertaking self-placement to consider available spaces in Category B and C schools, as well as the participating private schools.
Regional resolution centres have also been activated to assist candidates and parents with placement concerns.
In Accra, GNAT Hall has been designated as the National Placement Resolution Centre.
The Ministry has stressed that the placement process is completely free, and has warned parents and candidates against paying individuals who claim they can secure placements for them.
