BGCSE Botswana

Overview

BGCSE, the Botswana General Certificate of Secondary Education, is Botswana's national senior secondary school-leaving examination. It is set and administered by the Botswana Examinations Council (BEC), a statutory body under Botswana's Ministry of Education and Skills Development. BGCSE is pitched at a standard broadly similar to the GCE Ordinary Level (O-level): each subject a candidate takes is examined and graded separately, rather than the whole qualification carrying a single overall pass or fail.

Who can apply

BGCSE is sat at the end of the two-year senior secondary cycle (Forms 4 and 5), which follows Botswana's three-year junior secondary cycle and its own Junior Certificate Examination (JCE). Most candidates are in their final year of senior secondary school, typically around 17 to 18 years old, and are registered as school candidates by their senior secondary school.

BEC also registers private candidates, including repeaters and people studying outside a school, as individuals. Learners enrolled with the Botswana Open University (BOU) register for BGCSE through their BOU learning centre rather than directly with BEC. BEC states that the qualification itself carries no age limit.

Exam pattern

Each BGCSE subject has its own syllabus and its own written, oral and/or practical assessment, set and marked by BEC. English Language and Setswana are treated as compulsory subjects for school candidates, and Mathematics is also required in most school programmes; beyond these, candidates choose further subjects from BEC's list, covering sciences, humanities, commercial and vocational/practical subjects. Most candidates sit six or more subjects in total, since this is also the number Botswana's tertiary institutions and employers commonly look for.

Marking and results

Each BGCSE subject is graded on its own eight-point scale, from A* (the highest grade) down to G, with U given where a candidate's performance does not meet the minimum standard needed for a grade. There is no single overall pass or fail for the certificate: a candidate's result is the set of individual subject grades, and colleges, universities and employers set their own minimum grades and number of subjects for what they require.

Important dates

BGCSE is written once a year, in the October/November examination series. For recent cycles, BEC has published the results in February of the following year — for example, the 2022 series results were released in February 2023. School-candidate registration for the BGCSE year is handled by schools earlier in the year; BEC has run its private-candidate registration window, using its online Malepa platform, from around February to the end of May. Exact dates move slightly each year, so candidates should confirm the current cycle's dates on BEC's website.

Fees

BGCSE fees are reviewed by BEC from time to time, so amounts can change between examination series. For the 2023 private-candidate registration cycle, BEC's published fees were a P82.00 registration fee plus P247.00 per subject (for example, P329.00 for one subject and P1,317.00 for five subjects). For results review, BEC's remarking service has charged P25.00 per subject, limited to a maximum of two subjects, and it does not cover the practical components of subjects such as Art, Home Economics, Design & Technology, Music, Agriculture and Business Studies. Candidates should check BEC's current fee schedule before registering or requesting a review.

How to apply

• School candidates are registered for BGCSE by their senior secondary school; the school submits the registration to BEC on the candidate's behalf.

• Private candidates register individually online through BEC's Malepa platform (malepa.bec.co.bw) and pay through First National Bank or Orange Money.

• BOU learners register for BGCSE through their Botswana Open University learning centre rather than through Malepa.

After the exam

BEC publishes BGCSE results on its online results portal, where candidates look up their own result by selecting "BGCSE" as the examination type. After results are released, BEC runs an Enquiries about Results service for a period of six weeks: a free "No Results" (X-enquiry) check if a subject was not graded, and a paid remarking service (see Fees) for candidates who want a script looked at again, with a valid reason given and a limit of two subjects per candidate.

Preparation tips

• Work from BEC's current syllabus for each subject rather than an older version, since BEC updates syllabi from time to time.

• Confirm your compulsory subjects (English Language, Setswana and, for most programmes, Mathematics) early, and choose your remaining subjects with your target course or job's subject and grade requirements in mind.

• If you are registering as a private candidate, set up your Malepa registration and payment well before the registration window closes, since late registration is not guaranteed.