A total of 527,932 candidates have secured placement into second-cycle and technical institutions under the 2026 Computerised School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS). The placements cover Senior High Schools (SHSs), Senior High Technical Schools (SHTSs), as well as Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions, representing 87.3 per cent of the 604,567 candidates who qualified for placement after the 2026 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).
Deputy Minister of Education, Dr Clement Apaak, disclosed this at a press briefing in Accra, explaining that 76,635 qualified candidates were not automatically placed, largely due to the high demand for Category A schools. He said the successful placements comprised 276,521 females and 251,411 males.
The 2026 placement results were released at 10:00 p.m. on September 4, 2026, following the completion of the processing exercise by the Ministry of Education, the Ghana Education Service (GES), the Ghana TVET Service and technical teams. A total of 623,072 candidates sat the 2026 BECE, compared with 603,328 candidates in 2025, representing an increase of 19,744. Dr Apaak further disclosed that 313,283 candidates selected Category A schools as their first choice, despite only 76,417 declared vacancies being available in that category.
Meanwhile, Category B schools announced 250,366 available slots, while Category C schools declared 468,652 vacancies. A total of 176,614 candidates chose Category B schools as their first option, compared to 123,577 who selected Category C schools. Only 995 candidates opted for participating private SHSs/SHTSs as their first choice.
Dr. Apaak noted that these figures suggest the issue is not a lack of spaces in the secondary education system, but rather a mismatch between available vacancies and students’ preferred schools. He explained that candidates who were not automatically placed in their chosen schools have been advised to use the self‑placement system to select institutions and programmes with open slots.
The Ministry further encouraged candidates using the self‑placement system to broaden their options and consider schools and programmes beyond the traditionally oversubscribed institutions.
