CUTS International demands end to WAEC’s fees for exam results
CUTS International, Accra, is calling on the Ministry of Education to urgently intervene and stop the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) from charging students fees to access their examination results online.
The organization describes the practice of requiring candidates to purchase scratch cards to view their BECE and WASSCE results as “exploitative, unjustified,” and a clear barrier to equitable access to education.
In a statement, Appiah Kusi Adomako, West Africa Regional Director of CUTS, criticized the current system as outdated and unnecessarily punitive.
“In many parts of the world, students do not pay to access their results. Why should Ghana be different? It is unacceptable that after years of digital transformation, WAEC still charges GHS 15 to GHS 25 per candidate for online access to results — a basic right that should be free,” the statement said.
According to CUTS, this year alone, over 600,000 candidates wrote the BECE. If each candidate pays a minimum of GHS 15 to access their results, WAEC stands to collect nearly GHS 9 million in revenue, which the think tank argues is unjustified given the reduced operational costs associated with digital platforms.
The statement noted that prior to 2004, WAEC bore significant logistics costs by printing and distributing physical results to schools. However, since moving to a digital platform, those expenses have drastically decreased, yet students still pay to access a service that should now be cheaper or free.
“Going digital was meant to make things more efficient and affordable. However, WAEC has turned it into a revenue stream. This borders on extortion,” the statement noted.
The statement also targeted the Computerized School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS), which places BECE graduates into Senior High Schools.
“It is ironic that even with a digital placement system, students still have to pay to know which school they’ve been placed in. This defeats the entire purpose of automation, which was meant to improve transparency and lower costs,” the statement stressed.
It cited examples from other African countries, including South Africa, Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, Kenya, and Zambia, where students access results online at no cost.
CUTS is urging the Ministry of Education, the Ghana Education Service (GES), and the Parliamentary Select Committee on Education to take immediate steps to scrap these charges.
“Accessing one’s exam results or knowing where you’ve been placed for SHS should not be a luxury. It should not be monetized. We are calling on all stakeholders to ensure this exploitative practice ends in 2025,” the statement urged.
The statement also drew parallels with other examination and placement bodies such as ACCA, SAT, TOEFL, GRE, IELTS, and Ghana’s National Service Scheme, all of which allow participants to access their results online at no extra cost.
“WAEC is not above scrutiny. Just because this practice has persisted for 21 years doesn’t make it right. Education must remain affordable and accessible. Charging students to access results is not only regressive — it’s indefensible,” it added.
