A total of 527,932 candidates out of 604,567 qualified applicants have so far secured placement into senior high schools (SHSs), senior high technical schools (SHTSs) and technical and vocational institutions for the 2026/27 academic year.
Deputy Minister of Education, Dr Clement Apaak, disclosed this at a press briefing on Monday, September 7, 2026, saying the figure represents approximately 87.3 per cent of candidates qualified for placement.
According to him, 276,521 of those successfully placed are females, while 251,411 are males.
The placement exercise follows the 2026 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE), which recorded 623,072 candidates, representing an increase of 19,744 over the 603,352 candidates recorded in the previous year.
Dr Apaak said the number of candidates who qualified for placement stood at 604,567, stressing that the progress demonstrated government’s commitment to expanding access to secondary education.
However, he explained that the relatively large number of candidates yet to secure automatic placement was not necessarily due to a shortage of spaces within the secondary education system, but rather a mismatch between candidates’ preferred schools and available vacancies.
“The issue, therefore, is not simply the availability of spaces in our secondary school education system. It is largely a mismatch between where vacancies exist and where candidates most strongly prefer to be placed,” he said.
He said 313,283 candidates selected Category A schools as their first choice, compared with 176,614 candidates who chose Category B schools and 123,577 who selected Category C schools.
By contrast, the available vacancies included 76,417 spaces in Category A schools, 250,366 in Category B schools and 468,652 in Category C schools.
Dr Apaak said the disparity was particularly pronounced in Category A schools, where demand far exceeded available capacity.
“Whilst 313,283 candidates expressed their best choice for Category A schools, the declared vacancies in those schools stood at 76,417. The disparity is clear.”
The Deputy Minister acknowledged that the situation presented a challenge for government and said efforts were being made to increase infrastructure in the highly subscribed schools.
He said government would need to invest in additional classroom blocks, dormitories, libraries, laboratories and other facilities to enable more students to access their preferred schools in future.
“We recognize that we are confronted with a challenge and steps are being taken to address these challenges going forward,” Dr Apaak said.
He added that government’s broader objective was to create an education system in which every school could become a school of choice and every learner would have a viable pathway to progress.
Meanwhile, the Ministry said candidates placed in schools are expected to begin reporting from September 18, 2026, with the relevant placement data already made available to school authorities.
The Ministry also warned parents and guardians against paying money to individuals claiming they can secure or alter school placements.
“School placement is absolutely free. No parent, no guardian, no candidate should pay money to any individual whether that person claims to be an official of the Ministry of Education, the Ghana Education Service, the Ghana Career Service, the school official, an intermediary, or any other third party to secure or change a placement,” Dr Apaak said.
He urged candidates and parents with placement concerns to use the official resolution centres and designated contact channels established by the Ministry.
