WASSCE results and university admission in Ghana

The aggregate is six grades

Students often hear that the aggregate is your best six: English Language, Core Mathematics, Integrated Science, Social Studies, and the three best electives. Count that list and you get seven subjects. The aggregate is still six grades. The cores are the subjects you are expected to pass with a credit. The six numbers that are added are a selection from those cores, plus three electives.

A credit pass on the WASSCE is A1 to C6. English Language counts in the six. Core Mathematics counts in the six. One of Integrated Science or Social Studies counts, and which one depends on the programme. The other is still a credit the university can require, and it is often left out of the total. The three electives are the ones the programme accepts, not simply the three highest grades on the slip if those subjects are the wrong ones.

The University of Ghana says science programmes count English Language, Core Mathematics and Integrated Science with three science electives, and still require a Social Studies credit that is not in the six. Programmes that are not science count Social Studies instead, and still require an Integrated Science credit. KNUST describes credits in English Language, Mathematics and Integrated Science, plus three electives. The University of Cape Coast describes English Language, Core Mathematics, and Integrated Science or Social Studies, plus three relevant electives. Those are three official wordings. They are not the same list. If this page and the university disagree, follow the university.

On GLearn, the WASSCE grade calculator counts English Language, Core Mathematics, the better of Integrated Science and Social Studies, and the three best other subjects you enter. Use it to see a total. A university can refuse a subject the calculator counted, or require a subject it left out. The total is not a place on a course.

WASSCE grade calculator

How the points add up

A1 counts as 1, B2 as 2, B3 as 3, C4 as 4, C5 as 5 and C6 as 6. Add the six numbers. A lower total is better. Six A1 grades make 6, the strongest aggregate on this scale. D7, E8 and F9 are not credit passes, so they do not fill a place in that six.

The published band of 6 to 24

Many Ghanaian public universities publish a general entry requirement of aggregate 6 to 24 for regular degree programmes. Six is the strongest total. 24 is a ceiling they print for that route. It is not a score that guarantees a place, and it is not a number GLearn sets. KNUST prints 24 as that general aggregate, and says a lower number is stronger. A competitive programme can ask for a stronger aggregate than 24. Another route at the same university, such as distance learning, can print a different ceiling. The University of Cape Coast prints its own aggregate rule, and that rule can differ from the 6 to 24 band. Read the page for the university.

What a cut off point means

A cut off point is the aggregate a programme uses to fill its places. It is not the same number for every programme, and it is not the same thing as the general entry band. Two programmes at one university can have different cut offs in the same year, because one had more qualified applicants than places and the other did not. The cut off can also move the next year, when the results change or the number of places changes.

A figure from last year is a guide. The University of Ghana says its cut offs follow the previous year's quotas and can move with the current year's results. GLearn does not publish a cut off list. A copied number goes stale, and a wrong one can point you at the wrong course.

Where to read the official pages

Open the admissions page of the university, not a blog that reprints an old table. The University of Ghana, KNUST and the University of Cape Coast each publish their own requirements. The Ghana Tertiary Education Commission accredits tertiary institutions in Ghana. If you are unsure a college is recognised, start on the GTEC site and look for the accredited list. GLearn is exam prep. It does not accredit a school and it does not admit you.

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Sitting again, and remedial lessons

If a core subject is not a credit, or the aggregate is not strong enough for the programme you want, you can sit the WASSCE again as a private candidate. WAEC Ghana registers private candidates. A school sitting and a private sitting are not the same entry. The private candidates guide on GLearn says who that sitting is for. GLearn does not register you, does not take the WAEC fee, and does not publish the next private date. When you need the date or the fee, read the WAEC Ghana site.

Remedial lessons are extra classes before that sitting. A remedial class does not change a grade you already have. Only a new result from WAEC does that. Spend the time on the subjects the university will count: English Language, Core Mathematics, the core the programme uses, and the three electives it names.

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A short revision plan

Revise the subjects the aggregate will actually count. Give English Language and Core Mathematics real time, because they count for every programme described above. Keep a credit in both Integrated Science and Social Studies, then check which one your programmes put in the six. Practise the three electives the programme names. A strong grade in a subject the programme will not count does not fix a weak one that it will.

Add the six grades on the WASSCE grade calculator so you can see the total, then read the university page before you treat that total as an offer. The WASSCE syllabus on GLearn is a study map of the topics we practise. It is not a WAEC syllabus file. Anna is the coach on WASSCE practice. Kevin is the coach on BECE practice. Both explain the answer. The first questions need no account.

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