Over 620,000 candidates nationwide will sit for the 2026 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE), which begins on Monday, May 4, with authorities stepping up efforts to prevent malpractice.

The examination, organised by the West African Examinations Council, will run until May 11. A total of 620,141 candidates from 20,395 schools are expected to take part.

WAEC says strict measures have been put in place to ensure compliance with examination rules, warning that any form of cheating will attract serious penalties.

Officials stressed that candidates found with unauthorised materials, including mobile phones, will face sanctions, adding that any form of misconduct towards invigilators or supervisors will not be tolerated.

Meanwhile, the Director-General of the Ghana Education Service, Professor Ernest Kofi Davis, disclosed that individuals previously implicated in examination irregularities have been excluded from this year’s exercise.

He noted that all supervisors and invigilators under investigation for alleged involvement in last year’s malpractice cases have been barred from participating.

The tightened measures are aimed at safeguarding the credibility of the BECE, a critical examination that determines students’ placement into senior high schools.