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) and Technical and Vocational Institutions, representing 87.3 per cent of 604,567 candidates who qualified after the 2026 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).

‎Dr Clement Apaak, Deputy Minister of Education, said at a press briefing in Accra, that 76,635 qualified candidates were not automatically placed, largely because of high demand for Category A schools.

‎He said 276,521 females and 251,411 males were among those successfully placed.

‎The 2026 placement results were released at 2200 hours on September 4, 2026, after the Ministry of Education, Ghana Education Service (GES), Ghana TVET Service and technical teams completed the processing exercise.

‎A total of 623,072 candidates sat the 2026 BECE, compared with 603,328 in 2025, representing an increase of 19,744 candidates.

‎Dr Apaak said 313,283 candidates selected Category A schools as their first choice, against 76,417 declared vacancies.

‎Category B schools had 250,366 declared vacancies, while Category C schools had 468,652.

‎176,614 candidates selected Category B schools as their first choice, while 123,577 selected Category C schools.

‎Only 995 candidates selected participating private SHSs/SHTSs as their first choice.

‎Dr Apaak explained that the figures indicated that the challenge was not necessarily a shortage of spaces within the secondary education system, but rather a mismatch between where vacancies existed and where candidates preferred to attend.

‎He said candidates who were not automatically matched with their choices had been advised to use the self-placement system to select schools and programmes with available vacancies.

The Ministry urged candidates using the self‑placement system to broaden their choices and consider schools and programmes outside the traditionally highly subscribed institutions.‎