Understanding WAEC’s Stanine Grading System for BECE in Ghana: A Comprehensive Overview

Ferdinand | EducationGhana |  November 08| Understanding WAEC’s Stanine Grading System for BECE in Ghana: A Comprehensive Overview

Discover the comprehensive breakdown of WAEC’s Stanine Grading System used in Ghana’s BECE, including grade ranges and its role in senior high school placements.

The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) utilizes the Stanine Grading System to evaluate student performance in the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) in Ghana. This system, standardized and in use since the examination’s inception in 1990, divides student results into nine distinct categories, known as “stanines,” to fairly represent performance on a normalized scale.

Breakdown of the Stanine Grading System:

1. Grade 1 (Excellent): The highest level of achievement, usually corresponding to marks between 80-100%. This grade reflects top-tier academic performance.
2. Grade 2 (Very Good): Strong academic achievement, typically between 70-79%.
3. Grade 3 (Good): Above-average performance, marked between 65-69%.
4. Grade 4 (High Average): Indicates slightly above-average results, with scores ranging from 60-64%.
5. Grade 5 (Average): Represents median performance, falling between 55-59%.
6. Grade 6 (Low Average): Marks range from 50-54%, indicating below-average but passing results.
7. Grade 7 (Below Average): Scores between 45-49%, reflecting substandard performance.
8. Grade 8 (Weak): Indicates poor results, generally associated with marks between 40-44%.
9. Grade 9 (Very Weak/Fail): The lowest grade, typically below 40%, denoting a failure to meet the minimum academic standard.

How WAEC Utilizes the Stanine System:

WAEC implements this grading scale to provide a consistent and transparent method for interpreting examination results. The benefits and purposes of using the Stanine system include:

• Fair Comparison: It standardizes results so that students’ achievements can be assessed in relation to their peers on a national scale.
• Senior High School Placement: BECE results play a crucial role in determining the placement of students into senior high schools in Ghana. The use of the Stanine system offers a straightforward way for schools to evaluate applicants’ academic strengths.
• Holistic Assessment: This grading scale encourages a more rounded evaluation of student performance beyond just raw scores, aligning with modern educational standards.

Addressing Misconceptions:

Recently, there have been rumors suggesting that WAEC introduced a new grading system for BECE, which have been debunked by WAEC’s Head of Public Affairs, John Kapi. He confirmed that the Stanine system has remained unchanged since 1990 and emphasized that any modifications would be communicated transparently and involve input from stakeholders.

Kapi also pointed out that it is misleading for individuals to spread unofficial statistics on social media, clarifying that WAEC has not published data related to student pass rates or failures for the BECE.

Characteristics of the Stanine System:

The system follows a bell curve distribution where most students’ scores cluster in the middle (Grades 4-6), with fewer students at the highest (Grades 1-3) and lowest (Grades 7-9) performance levels. This allows educators and policymakers to identify student proficiency levels and potential areas for intervention.