How Ghana’s education system works
Ghana runs on a 2-6-3-3-4 path: 2 years of kindergarten, 6 of primary, 3 of junior high and 3 of senior high, then a four-year degree or a technical route. The BECE at the end of junior high decides senior high placement through CSSPS, and the WASSCE at the end of senior high decides what comes after. The register holds 43,626 schools across all 16 regions.
The stages
- 1Kindergarten2 years · ages 4 to 5No exam
KG1 and KG2. Part of basic education and, in a public school, free. Many private schools run a nursery year before this.
- 2Primary6 years · ages 6 to 11No national exam
P1 to P6. There is no national examination at the end of primary in Ghana. Pupils move up to junior high within the basic cycle.
4,984,126 pupils enrolled, 2024Schools at this stage - 3Junior High3 years · ages 12 to 14BECE
JHS1 to JHS3, ending in the Basic Education Certificate Examination. The BECE aggregate and the choices made at registration decide senior high placement through CSSPS.
603,328 BECE candidates, 2025Schools at this stage - 4Senior High3 years · ages 15 to 17WASSCE
General, technical or vocational, ending in the West African Senior School Certificate Examination. Placement is not chosen freely: CSSPS assigns it.
3,334,409 secondary enrolment, 2024Schools at this stage - 5Tertiary and TVET2 to 6 years · ages 18 and upVaries
Universities, technical universities, colleges of education, nursing and midwifery training, professional institutes and TVET. Regulated by GTEC.
Key dates in the Ghana school year
The latest date for each national exam and for SHS reopening, from the education calendar. Each row says whether the date is official or reported by the press.
| Event | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|
| BECE 2026 results released | 30 Jul 2026 | official |
| CSSPS 2026 school placement released | 4 Sep 2026 | reported by press |
| WASSCE 2026 withheld results: WAEC decision due | 30 Oct 2026 | reported by press |
| SHS Christmas break 2026/2027 | 19 Dec 2026 | reported by press |
| WASSCE 2027 results release date | not announced | not announced |
| BECE 2027 results release date | not announced | not announced |
| CSSPS 2027 school placement release date | not announced | not announced |
Source: WAEC Ghana, Ghana Education Service and the press, 2026. How we compile this
BECE and SHS placement: how a student gets a senior high place
Candidates sit the BECE, which WAEC sets and marks, with grades from 1 (best) to 9. At registration each candidate lists school choices. CSSPS, the Computerised School Selection and Placement System, then places candidates using the BECE aggregate and the choices. Schools are grouped in categories A to D, and the guidelines limit how many higher-category schools a candidate may choose. Checking a placement is free.
WASSCE grades and what comes after senior high
The West African Senior School Certificate Examination is set by WAEC. A1 to C6 are credit passes, D7 and E8 are passes below credit, and F9 is a fail. Universities set their own subject and aggregate requirements. After WASSCE a student can apply to a university, a technical university, a college of education, a nursing and midwifery college or a TVET institution.
Tertiary education in Ghana
GTEC regulates tertiary education. The register holds 55 universities, 11 technical universities, 50 colleges of education, 178 nursing and midwifery training colleges, 76 tertiary colleges and 13 professional institutes. Technical universities are the former polytechnics, converted from 2016.
TVET in Ghana: technical and vocational schools
TVET stands for Technical and Vocational Education and Training. Students enter through CSSPS placement after the BECE or through short-course and apprenticeship routes. The Ghana TVET Service lists 346 institutions and the register holds 436 vocational records. COTVET coordinates TVET policy and standards. For courses, fees and application dates, the Ghana TVET Service and each institution are the authority, and we link to them.
What the system looks like in numbers
Every figure here comes from the store behind the data page, refreshed monthly, with the year each one belongs to.
| What | Figure | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Primary enrolment | 4,984,126 | 2024 |
| Secondary enrolment | 3,334,409 | 2024 |
| Primary completion rate | 97.5% | 2024 |
| Primary-age children out of school | 235,313 | 2024 |
| Pupils per primary teacher | 26.99 | 2019 |
| Primary enrolment in private schools | 28.4% | 2022 |
| BECE candidates | 603,328 | 2025 |
Who runs what
These bodies cover most of what a parent needs. Every link goes to the official site, and we check they still resolve.
| Body | What it does |
|---|---|
| Ministry of Education | Policy, budget and the Free SHS programme |
| Ghana Education Service | Runs pre-tertiary schools and posts teachers |
| WAEC Ghana | Sets and marks the BECE and the WASSCE |
| CSSPS | Places BECE candidates into senior high and TVET schools |
| GTEC | Regulates and accredits tertiary institutions |
| NaCCA | Owns the national curriculum |
| National Teaching Council | Licenses teachers |
| Nursing and Midwifery Council | Registers nursing and midwifery training colleges |
| Ghana TVET Service | Lists and runs technical and vocational institutions |
| COTVET | Coordinates TVET policy and standards |
More of them, including the curriculum council, the teaching council, the loan trust and the scholarships secretariat, are on the official portals page.
Where this directory fits
We hold 43,626 schools across all 16 regions and 261 districts, at every stage above. We publish what each school is, where it is and how to reach it, and its fees when the school publishes them. We never estimate a fee. We publish no ratings and no school-level results, because we hold neither.
Questions about the system
- How many years of school are there before university in Ghana?
- Fourteen. Two years of kindergarten, six of primary and three of junior high make up the eleven-year basic cycle, then three years of senior high. Ghana is usually described as a 6-3-3-4 system, which counts primary, junior high, senior high and a four-year degree and leaves kindergarten out.
- What is basic education, exactly?
- Kindergarten, primary and junior high together: eleven years, ending with the BECE. It is the compulsory, fee-free portion in public schools.
- Is senior high school free?
- Public senior high school has been fee-free since the Free SHS policy began in September 2017, covering tuition, and in the standard arrangement boarding and feeding. Private schools are unaffected. Confirmed 7 October 2026; policy detail changes, so check the Ministry of Education for the current year.
- What is the difference between a technical university and a polytechnic?
- They are the same institutions. Ghana began converting polytechnics to technical universities from 2016, so older documents and ordinary speech still say polytechnic.
- Who runs what?
- The Ministry of Education sets policy. Ghana Education Service runs pre-tertiary schools. WAEC sets and marks the BECE and WASSCE. CSSPS places BECE candidates into senior high. NaCCA owns the curriculum. GTEC regulates tertiary. The National Teaching Council licenses teachers.
- What are the 5 levels of education in Ghana?
- Kindergarten, primary, junior high school, senior high school and tertiary. The first three make up basic education, which ends with the BECE. Senior high ends with the WASSCE.
- What does BECE mean?
- Basic Education Certificate Examination. WAEC sets it at the end of junior high school, and the result decides senior high placement through CSSPS.
- What does WASSCE mean and how is it graded?
- West African Senior School Certificate Examination, set by WAEC at the end of senior high school. A1 to C6 are credit passes, D7 and E8 are passes below credit, and F9 is a fail.
- How does SHS placement work in Ghana?
- Candidates list school choices when they register for the BECE. CSSPS places them using the BECE aggregate and those choices, within the category limits set in the school selection guidelines. Checking a placement is free.
- What are TVET courses and who runs TVET in Ghana?
- TVET is technical and vocational training in trades and technical skills. The Ghana TVET Service lists and runs the institutions, and COTVET coordinates policy and standards. Courses and application dates are published by the Service and each institution.
- How many TVET schools are there in Ghana?
- The Ghana TVET Service lists 346 institutions, and our register holds 436 vocational records. The two counts come from different lists, so check the Service for its current one.
- Where does Ghana rank in education?
- We publish no country ranking. We rank regions and districts on published data, with the year and source of each table, on the regions ranked and districts ranked pages.
- Do you publish pass rates for individual schools?
- No. We hold no results broken down by school, so we show none and will not estimate them. Region and district tables are published, because that is where the data exists.