The University of Ghana says it will not lower its admission cut-off points for the 2025/2026 academic year, despite the sharp decline in this year’s WASSCE results.

According to the Pro Vice Chancellor, Prof. Gordon Awandare, the university will uphold its standards and only admit applicants who meet the required aggregates.

Prof. Awandare explained that UG has already begun receiving results from applicants who bought awaiting-results forms, and the institution will process them as usual. However, he cautioned that students struggling to meet the cut-off points should consider rewriting the exam.

“At the University of Ghana, every year, we have many more students making the cut-off but not getting the opportunity to be admitted because of the limited number of spaces,” he said. “So, it is not likely that we will need to move the cut-off. We will advise that if they really want to come to Legon, they should resit some of the papers and improve their aggregates and try again.”

This year’s WASSCE recorded one of the poorest performances in recent years. Core Mathematics saw the steepest decline, with A1–C6 passes falling from 305,132 in 2024 to 209,068 in 2025 — a drop of over 96,000. The overall pass rate of 48.73% means more than half of the candidates did not secure the grades required for tertiary admission. Nearly one in four candidates failed both Core Mathematics and Social Studies, raising widespread concern about university readiness.

Prof. Awandare stressed that UG’s admission requirements remain firm because standards cannot be compromised. He noted that the university already turns away qualified applicants each year due to limited space, making it unnecessary to adjust cut-offs even in a low-performing year.

He spoke to Citi News.

The university is expected to complete its processing of awaiting-results applicants in the coming weeks, after which placement decisions will be communicated.

The development adds to ongoing conversations about the quality of secondary education, learning gaps, and the broader implications of the 2025 WASSCE decline on Ghana’s tertiary system.