The Examiner’s report on the 2023 BECE Super Mock 1 is out, and it is “A must-read for every candidate”
The report covers all core subjects plus ICT and RME for candidates preparing for the 2023 BECE scheduled for August this year.
The report provided is based on the May Super Mock for BECE candidates administered by Education-News Consult. The Mock was written by BECE candidates across the country.
Examiner’s Report on 2023 BECE Super Mock 1
Examiner’s Report for the English Language Paper:
Less than 50% of candidates who sat the examination were able to write official letters that came along with well-set-out organization. Many missed important features such as the signing of such letters, in some instances, the position of signature and writers’ full name were interchanged.
Some candidates are still unable to differentiate between a friendly letter and a formal or official letter written to persons in authority.
Essay question one is an official letter, yet candidates mixed the organization aspect up. Candidates must revise and master the features of letters of this nature.
Most students missed one or more of the features of such a letter such as not writing the recipients’ address, no title, no proper signing off.
Students provided synonyms that were not good enough to replace the underlines words and to keep the meaning of the paragraphs intact.
Some candidates provided more than one word to replace one or more of the underlined words.
This is wrong, and we have consistently directed students to stop this. Candidates are to provide only one word or phrase per underlined word.
Note that where two words are provided as an answer for an underlined word, the two must be correct for the candidate to earn full marks. If one of the answers provided is wrong, the candidate scores zero.
Some candidates’ answered section B questions but failed to write the question number. The candidate must always write the question number boldly and clearly.
Candidates must stop writing section headings, e.g. Writing Comprehension is wrong… Instead, you are to write the question number.
Students have challenges with replacing an underline word with another in a given passage. It is important that students realize that not all synonyms of a word can perfectly replace a word in a passage.
Care must be taken when providing an answer. One way to do this is to introduce the new word into the paragraphs and read to see if they make meaning before writing them as answers.
Apart from the above, students exhibited a good understanding of essay topics and provided above-average to good responses.
Examiner’s Report for RME :
Nearly all candidates demonstrated a good understanding of the topics and expressed answers in the manner prescribed for this paper, however, some candidates answered the questions as if they were writing notes. Others provided lazy answers. Avoid one-word answers where a sentence of 10 to 12 words would have provided better scores.
Candidates answer questions without writing question numbers. This continuously dominated most scripts marked. Candidates need to be conscious of these basics or lose marks just because the examiner cannot see the question number.
The answering starts with the writing of the correct question number.
Some candidates only mention points and provide examples when the question demands an explanation- E.g. Q5a. Such candidates will always fail this subject once they keep repeating this mistake.
Candidates must stop underlining points… Answering questions is not note-writing… We keep repeating this.
Examiner’s Report for Social Studies:
We encourage candidates to practice more with objective test papers. This has been suggested because many of the candidates did not score good marks in section A of the paper.
The candidate needs to read broadly and retain basic facts across all topics to help them score better marks in section A of Social Studies and all the other papers.
Question answering as kills remain our biggest issue once again. Candidates should apply the approach they used to answer RME questions to answer social studies questions too.
The provision of lazy student answers must be stopped. Students need to expand their answers and provide better and well-explained answers to earn good marks.
Examiner’s Report for ICT:
The performance of candidates in ICT remains the best in the last two mocks, however; there is more room for improvement. Some candidates showed weakness in questions relating to Excel and are encouraged to revise Excel very well.
We encourage candidates to answer the ICT questions on the question paper.
Examiner’s Report for Integrated Science:
Integrated Science remains the most challenging subject for nearly all candidates. Scores obtained can be grouped into three categories. Many of our candidates scored between 0 and 40 (62 candidates) followed by 41 to 60 (39) with the least number obtaining 61 to 95 (22).
We maintain our position on the following recommendations given in the April Mock.
- Most candidates are unable to answer practical questions well (More revision of past practical papers and the mocks we have written should be done)
- Topics in Form 1 and Form 2 in Science should be revised well.
- Candidates should practice with past papers and the mock for section B
- Candidates should read questions very well and answer them using the right terms.
Examiner’s Report for Mathematics
The Maths paper tested several sections of the syllabus (Sections A and B). Examiner’s observations.
- Some of our candidates seem to be impatient or inattentive when solving questions. This leads to missing important steps or failing to show working. Candidates need to appreciate the fact that, we mark steps, and more marks are always allocated to the steps than the final answers. The candidates should always show workings.
- Candidates are advised to revise and practice their algebra well, factorization, and simplification to be able to handle questions that demand the use of these approaches when solving questions.
- In some instances, candidates showed a lack of knowledge of the topics accessed in the paper. An example was seen with candidates who solved questions 3 and 5 of section B. Some candidates were also not able to solve the set question (Q1). More revision in these areas is advised.
- Objective test answers in many instances were wrong. Candidates need to solve the questions very well before making a choice.
- Candidates who scored between 20 and 60 in the examination need to sit up. The scores are worrying.
READ:How to Answer BECE/WASSCE English Letter Questions Without Solving A Question During Revisions
We look forward to the implementation of the reports and the remaining mock examinations.