NSMQ winners by year, school and region

Who are the NSMQ winners? The short answer

Here are the NSMQ winners by year, from the first list the organisers publish in 1994 to the grand finale on 10 September 2026. The National Science and Maths Quiz is produced by Primetime Limited and sponsored by the Ghana Education Service (GES). We copied every champion from the organisers' own past winners page on 12 October 2026, then checked each school's region against our register.

Eleven different schools have won. PRESEC (Legon) is the most recent champion and has won nine times. Mfantsipim School won in 2024 and 2025, then lost to PRESEC in the 2026 quarter-finals. If you came for an NSMQ winners list as a table, it is just below the quick facts.

Key facts at a glance (checked 12 October 2026)

The list: the eleven schools that have won the NSMQ

Each school below links to its page on our register. Regions come from those pages. The titles are counted by us from the yearly results in the next section.

• Presbyterian Boys' Senior High School, Legon: nine titles, Greater Accra.
• Prempeh College: five titles, Ashanti.
• Mfantsipim School: four titles, Central.
• St. Peter's Senior High School, Nkwatia: three titles, Eastern.
• Opoku Ware School: two titles, Ashanti.
• Achimota School: two titles, Greater Accra.
• St. Augustine's College: two titles, Central.
• Pope John Senior High School and Minor Seminary: one title, Eastern.
• Ghana Secondary Technical School, Takoradi: one title, Western.
• St. Thomas Aquinas Senior High School: one title, Greater Accra.
• Adisadel College: one title, Central.

The organisers' own About page says the same: only 11 schools have taken the trophy since the quiz began in 1993.

NSMQ winners by year

This is the full table. Click a column heading to sort it, and click a year to open the organisers' page it comes from. Runners-up are listed the way the organisers list them.

Two things about the table. First, the organisers' page starts at 1994, even though they date the quiz to 1993, so we cannot show a 1993 result. We could not find one on their site. Second, the same page shows "No Competition held" twice, and the only two years missing from its champions are 2010 and 2011. We list those as no contest. Wikipedia's list agrees with every row, and we used it only as a cross-check.

Which schools have won the NSMQ most?

Titles are easy to count, and people do count them. Here they are, from the confirmed rows only.

PRESEC has nine, Prempeh College five, Mfantsipim four and St. Peter's three. Three schools have two titles and four have one. The table below adds the years.

Prempeh College last won in 2021, and Adisadel College has one title, from 2016.

NSMQ winners by region

The next question after the list is usually about the region of the winning school. The region here is where the school sits on our register, not where its students come from. Counted that way:

Greater Accra has 12 titles, from PRESEC, Achimota School and St. Thomas Aquinas. Ashanti has seven, from Prempeh College and Opoku Ware. Central has seven, from Mfantsipim, St. Augustine's College and Adisadel College, all three in Cape Coast. Eastern has four, from St. Peter's and Pope John. Western has one, from Ghana Secondary Technical School in Takoradi.

Only five regions appear on the winners list, and we do not draw a conclusion from that. You can browse schools in the winning regions on our pages for Greater Accra, Ashanti, Central, Eastern and Western.

NSMQ 2026 results: how the contest ended

The 2026 contest finished on Thursday 10 September 2026 at the UG Premier Dome in Legon. The organisers posted the scores that evening. PRESEC finished on 40, Accra Academy on 33 and St. Augustine's College on 27. The organisers say PRESEC's prize from GES was GH¢80,000, split between the school, the contestants and their teachers.

It was an all boys' school final. Accra Academy was playing in its first grand finale. St. Augustine's reached the final for the third year in a row. PRESEC had come back after two years of quarter-final exits, as the organisers put it, and its ninth title took it clear of every other school.

On the way there, PRESEC beat Mfantsipim School 56 to 39 in a quarter-final on 31 August 2026, which ended Mfantsipim's title defence.

NSMQ 2026 schedule: the dates that were published

Here is what the organisers' news page shows for the final stages:

1. Quarter-finals: 30 August to 1 September 2026, nine contests of three schools each.
2. Semi-finals: 3 September 2026, three contests. St. Augustine's College, PRESEC and Accra Academy won them.
3. Grand finale: 10 September 2026.

The earlier rounds are not on the news feed we checked, so we do not give dates for them. If you were looking for the NSMQ 2026 schedule to plan a viewing, it has passed. For 2027, see the section further down.

NSMQ 2025 winner and the recent champions

Mfantsipim School won the 2025 contest and the 2024 contest before it, so it won back to back. St. Augustine's College was a runner-up both times. PRESEC had done the same in 2022 and 2023. Prempeh College won in 2021 and PRESEC in 2020.

The five most recent years, as the organisers list them:

• 2026: PRESEC. Runners-up Accra Academy and St. Augustine's College.
• 2025: Mfantsipim School. Runners-up St. Augustine's College and Opoku Ware School.
• 2024: Mfantsipim School. Runners-up St. Augustine's College and Keta SHTS.
• 2023: PRESEC. Runners-up Achimota School and Opoku Ware School.
• 2022: PRESEC. Runners-up Prempeh College and Adisadel College.

Has PRESEC won the NSMQ? And how many times has each school won?

Yes. PRESEC has won nine times, in 1995, 2003, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2020, 2022, 2023 and 2026. The organisers called the 2026 final a record ninth title. For the other schools people ask about, here are the years the organisers list:

• St. Peter's SHS: 2000, 2005 and 2018.
• St. Augustine's College: 2007 and 2019.
• Achimota School: 1998 and 2004.
• Opoku Ware School: 1997 and 2002.
• Mfantsipim School: 1999, 2014, 2024 and 2025.
• Pope John SHS and Minor Seminary: 2001.

Records: back to back, first title and girls' schools

A few records come up again and again, so we checked each one against the list.

Back to back: PRESEC won in 2008 and 2009, and again in 2022 and 2023. Mfantsipim won in 2024 and 2025. No other school has won in consecutive years since 1994.

First champion: the organisers' list begins with Prempeh College in 1994. They date the quiz to 1993, and we did not find a published 1993 result, so we cannot name a first-ever winner with certainty.

Girls' schools: none of the eleven winners is a girls' school. Wesley Girls' High School was a runner-up in 1999, and Mfantsiman Girls' SHS is listed among the 2013 runners-up. We are not saying anything about why, only what the list shows.

Is the NSMQ a ranking of schools?

No, and we want to be plain about it. The NSMQ is a knockout contest. Three schools meet in each contest, the winner goes through, and a title belongs to one year. A school can be strong and meet a stronger team on the day, or have a poor night. PRESEC's two quarter-final exits before 2026 show that even the school with the most titles can go out early.

So we do not call any school the best, and we do not rank schools on this page. Title counts say who has won a televised quiz. They do not say how a school teaches, how its students do in WASSCE, or how well it suits your child. If you are choosing a school, use the register, compare schools side by side with our compare tool, and read how we check our data on our methodology page. Our hub for this topic is best schools by region and category.

NSMQ regional winners

The organisers' past winners page also keeps tables of regional and zonal champions, with runners-up, region by region. We have not copied those tables here. The layout switches between years, some regions stop at 2025 on the page we saw, and we would rather send you to the source than risk a wrong row. Open the organisers' past winners page and scroll to the regional section.

NSMQ 2027: what is known

We found no 2027 notice on the organisers' home page, news page or news feed on 12 October 2026. The latest post there is dated 11 September 2026. So we cannot give you a 2027 start date, a list of qualifying schools or a final date, and we will not guess from earlier years.

To be told when it is announced, join our newsletter below, or follow the organisers' own channels, which are linked from their site.

What we could not confirm

• A 1993 result. The organisers' list starts at 1994.
• Complete regional and zonal champions for 2026. The organisers' page shows them for some regions only.
• The dates of the 2026 rounds before the quarter-finals.
• Any 2027 date or format.
• The reason the contest was not held in 2010 and 2011. The page only says no competition was held.

If you have a dated notice from the organisers on any of these, write to us through our about page and we will update this guide.

Frequently asked questions

Who won the NSMQ in 2026?

Presbyterian Boys' Secondary School (PRESEC), Legon, won the 2026 grand finale on 10 September 2026, with 40 points. Accra Academy had 33 and St. Augustine's College 27. It was PRESEC's ninth title.

Who is the NSMQ 2025 winner?

Mfantsipim School won the 2025 NSMQ. It had also won in 2024, so it won two years running. St. Augustine's College and Opoku Ware School were the runners-up in 2025.

Who has won the Ghana National Science and Maths Quiz?

Eleven schools: PRESEC, Prempeh College, Mfantsipim School, St. Peter's SHS, Opoku Ware School, Achimota School, St. Augustine's College, Pope John SHS and Minor Seminary, Ghana Secondary Technical School, St. Thomas Aquinas SHS and Adisadel College. The year-by-year table above shows every champion from 1994 to 2026.

Which school has won the NSMQ the most?

PRESEC, with nine titles. Prempeh College has five and Mfantsipim School four. This counts titles only and does not rank the schools.

Has PRESEC won the NSMQ before?

Yes, nine times: 1995, 2003, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2020, 2022, 2023 and 2026.

How many times has St. Peter's won the NSMQ?

Three times, in 2000, 2005 and 2018. St. Augustine's College has won twice (2007 and 2019), Opoku Ware twice (1997 and 2002) and Mfantsipim four times.

Which year did Achimota win the NSMQ?

Achimota School won in 1998 and in 2004.

Which year did Pope John win the NSMQ?

Pope John Senior High School and Minor Seminary won in 2001. It is the school's only title on the organisers' list.

Which school has won the NSMQ back to back?

PRESEC won in 2008 and 2009 and again in 2022 and 2023. Mfantsipim School won in 2024 and 2025.

Has a girls' school ever won the NSMQ?

Not on the organisers' list. None of the eleven champions is a girls' school. Wesley Girls' High School was a runner-up in 1999.

Which school was the first to win the NSMQ?

The organisers' list starts in 1994 with Prempeh College as champion. The quiz began in 1993, and we could not find a published result for that year.

When is the NSMQ 2026 schedule and when is the next contest?

The 2026 quarter-finals ran from 30 August to 1 September, the semi-finals were on 3 September and the grand finale was on 10 September 2026. We found no notice yet for a 2027 contest.

Sources

• NSMQ Ghana, past winners (checked 12 October 2026)
• NSMQ Ghana, 2026 grand finale results (checked 12 October 2026)
• NSMQ Ghana, PRESEC crowned champions for a record ninth time (checked 12 October 2026)
• NSMQ Ghana, 2026 semi-final results (checked 12 October 2026)
• NSMQ Ghana, 2026 quarter-final stage results (checked 12 October 2026)
• NSMQ Ghana, about the NSMQ (checked 12 October 2026)
• NSMQ Ghana, news feed (checked 12 October 2026)
• Wikipedia, Ghana National Science and Maths Quiz, used only to cross-check the list (checked 12 October 2026)