BECE ICT (Computing) Tips: How to Score High in 2027

If you are searching for BECE ICT tips, one thing to know first: since the 2024 reforms, WAEC's regulations list the subject as Computing, and a Citi Newsroom report on the 2024 timetable noted Computing replacing ICT. Your teacher may still say ICT, and old past papers use that name. This guide uses the current name and follows WAEC Ghana's BECE regulations booklet (the version that applies from 2024).

A word on whether it counts: the Ghana Education Service list reported in 2024 classed Computing as an optional subject, so confirm with your school that you are entered. For placement, press explainers say the aggregate takes your four core subjects plus your best two other subjects, which means a strong Computing grade can help if it is among your best two.

The paper at a glance

Computing is taken as two papers in a total of 2 hours. Unusually, the essay paper comes first.

You answer exactly four essay questions. WAEC's instructions say that if you answer more than four, only the first four answers are marked and the extras are left unmarked. So choose your questions, number them clearly and stop at four.

What the sample questions cover

WAEC's sample paper is not a forecast, but the areas it touches show the breadth you need:

• Using a computer: desktop icons, drives, saving a file, and the difference between Save and Save As
• Word processing and presentation software: underlining text with keyboard shortcuts, default slide layouts
• Computer history: generations of computers, with features of the fourth generation
• Hardware: features of the computer mouse
• Data and number systems: what an OFF bit means, converting a decimal number to binary
• Problem solving: algorithms, flowcharts and the symbol for a processing step
• Digital literacy: judging whether a web page can be trusted
• Emerging technology: robotics and expert systems, including IF-THEN rules
• Practical editing: resizing a picture without distorting it, designing a brochure with text and images

Preparing for Paper 1

• Learn the vocabulary. Many questions are definition-based: bit, byte, algorithm, hardware, software, operating system, network.
• Practise binary conversion. Converting small decimal numbers to binary is a skill you can master with ten minutes of practice a day. Write out the place values 1, 2, 4, 8, 16 and work from the largest down.
• Use the keyboard. Many "which keys" questions are easy if you type often. Spend time on a computer if you can, even at a school lab or a community centre, and learn the shortcuts for bold, italic, underline, copy, paste and undo.
• Read the question for the detail. "Default" and "best" matter.

Preparing for Paper 2

The essay questions test understanding and practical thinking.

Section A (24 marks) is compulsory. The sample builds a task around a flowchart for creating a username, and asks you to name the chart, apply the steps to a given name, and draw a symbol. Practise reading a flowchart carefully and following it step by step. Learn the standard shapes for start/stop, process, input/output and decision.

Section B (12 marks each). Expect "describe", "differentiate between" and "give two features of". Use the same discipline as in other subjects: answer the number of points asked for, explain each briefly, and label parts (a), (b), (c).

If you cannot practise on a computer often, try drawing a screen on paper. Sketch a Word toolbar, label the buttons, and note what each does. A drawn, labelled sketch helps you remember and can also help in an answer.

An original practice question

Differentiate between hardware and software, giving two examples of each.

A good answer defines hardware as the physical parts you can touch (for example a keyboard and a monitor) and software as the programs that tell the hardware what to do (for example a word processor and an operating system). Two examples of each, written clearly, usually earn full marks.

Study plan

1. Week 1: computer basics and the parts of a computer.
2. Week 2: word processing, presentations, and spreadsheets.
3. Week 3: number systems, algorithms and flowcharts.
4. Week 4: internet safety, evaluating sources, robotics and expert systems; then a timed paper.

Whenever possible, use the school computer lab. If you have a phone or a tablet, practise typing, saving and organising files. For help with revision routines, read how to study effectively and how to make a reading timetable. The practical thinking involved overlaps with BECE Career Technology, and to see how a good grade fits into placement, read the BECE grading system.

If you have limited access to computers

Many JHS 3 students share a small lab or have no computer at home. You can still prepare well. Write out the parts of a computer and the buttons on a Word toolbar from memory. Practise binary conversion on paper. Draw flowcharts for everyday tasks such as making tea or choosing a school bus, using the standard shapes. Ask your ICT teacher for supervised lab time in the last month and use every minute for practical tasks you find hardest, such as formatting text or resizing a picture.

Practice

ExamPadi does not have BECE or Ghana-specific practice questions yet. For now, use the sample questions in WAEC's booklet and your school lab time. To be told when BECE practice launches, register your interest on the download page. Confirm exam dates, paper formats and rules on the official WAEC Ghana site (waecgh.org) and with your school; the sources used here are dated 2024 to 2026 and can change.