Computing is a BECE subject. The current subject list from WAEC Ghana uses that name. Older syllabuses and many notes call it ICT, and the practice pages on glearn use ICT in the address. It is the same subject. It is not one of the four cores CSSPS adds. Those are English Language, Mathematics, Science and Social Studies. A Computing grade can still be one of the two other grades, when it is among your best. WAEC sets the examination. Glearn Technologies writes this guide. Glearn does not set the paper, does not place students, and glearn does not publish a pass rate.
How the papers are set
WAEC Ghana publishes the scheme in its BECE guidelines. Read that file for the current timing and the marks. This page does not copy them, because a later file can change them. The structure in the guidelines is two papers, taken at one sitting. The essay paper comes first. The objective paper follows.
Paper 1 is the objective paper. The items are compulsory and come from the whole syllabus. You choose one option for each item, and you shade the sheet against the right number.
Paper 2 is the essay paper. It has two sections. Section A is one compulsory question. Section B offers a choice of questions. Answer only the number the instructions ask for. The guidelines say that answers beyond that number are left unmarked. Do not leave the compulsory question blank.
There is no separate practical paper in that scheme. A question can still ask you to name a part, describe a step, or write a short formula. If the question paper in your hall is arranged differently, follow the question paper.
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Topic areas from the curriculum
The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment publishes the Computing curriculum for junior high school. It organises the work in four strands. Use them as a revision map. A strand is not a promise that every unit appears on your paper.
1. Introduction to computing
Components of a computer and of a computer system, technology in the community, and health and safety when you use ICT tools.
2. Productivity software
Word processing, presentation, spreadsheets, and desktop publishing. These are programs that do a job for the user.
3. Communication networks
Computer networks, the internet and social media, information security, and web technologies. The internet is the network. The World Wide Web is one service on it.
4. Computational thinking
An introduction to programming and to algorithms, plus robotics and artificial intelligence. Say what a step does, not only the name of the tool.
BECE syllabusICT past questionsHardware and softwareThe internetWord processingSpreadsheetsComputer safety
How to answer the essay
Paper 2 is marked point by point. The command in the question decides the shape of the answer.
1. Do Section A first
It is compulsory. A strong choice in Section B does not repair a blank compulsory question.
2. Obey the command
State means a short fact. Explain means the fact and the reason. Distinguish means both sides, and how they differ. An example means a real case, not a second definition.
3. Lead with the point
Write the point in the first line, then the reason. A long paragraph that never states the point is hard to mark.
4. Name the category
A device is hardware. A program is software. The operating system is system software, not an application. When the question asks for an example, give the category and one example.
5. Show the work the computer does
In a spreadsheet, a formula starts with the equals sign and uses cell addresses. A total typed by hand is not a formula. Editing changes the words. Formatting changes how they look.
6. Stop at the number asked
Extra answers past the instruction are left unmarked. Spend the time on the answers that will be marked.
How to revise
Keep the work smaller than the syllabus. One strand, then a question, then the explanation.
1. Stay on one strand
Finish introduction to computing before you jump to programming. A mixed pile feels busy and teaches less.
2. Answer before you read
Do the past question first. Then read why. Recognising an answer is not the same as being able to write the point.
3. Write one full section
Once a week, answer a compulsory style question in full: the point, the reason, and an example where the question asks for one.
4. Sort devices from programs
Close the book and list three pieces of hardware, then three programs, and say which program is system software. Then check.
5. Fit Computing into the week
The revision plan orders the weeks across your subjects. When the official timetable is out, give the earliest paper more time. This page does not copy a date.
6. Have the answer marked
Kevin marks BECE Computing on glearn. Anna marks WASSCE answers. The first questions need no account.
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Mistakes that cost marks
These are habits, not a secret list of questions. Fix the habit on the next paper you write.
1. Revising word processing only
The papers also draw on hardware, networks, safety, and computational thinking. A week of formatting with no internet and no components leaves a hole.
2. Calling the internet the web
The internet is the network. The World Wide Web is one service on it. Email is another. A browser is software, not the network itself.
3. Swapping editing and formatting
Changing a word is editing. Making a title bold is formatting. The two marks are different.
4. A formula with no equals sign
Without the equals sign the spreadsheet treats what you typed as text. The formula should refer to cells, so a changed price updates the total.
5. Answering every essay
Read the instruction and answer the number it asks for. Extra essays do not repair a blank compulsory question, and the guidelines say the extras are left unmarked.
6. A safety answer with no precaution
Name the risk and the precaution. Use antivirus needs the reason: to detect and remove a virus. A backup is a second copy kept somewhere other than the original disk.
Keep these open while you revise
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