06 Apr 2026

The Minister of Child Welfare and Basic Education acknowledges that the ongoing education reforms affected teaching and learning for candidates who sat for the examinations in 2025.

Announcing the 2025 Botswana General Certificate of Secondary Education (BGCSE) results in Gaborone recently, Ms Nono Kgafela-Mokoka said the 2025 cohort experienced challenges linked to the transition to Outcome-Based Education (OBE), which affected classroom teaching and learning.

“The implication is that the acquisition of knowledge and skills by the cohort was likely to be negatively affected by circumstances beyond their control,” she said.

Ms Kgafela-Mokoka also explained that government implemented a post-examination adjustment procedure to ensure fairness for all candidates, noting that such measures were consistent with international best practices in assessment.

She said the 2025 examination cycle also marked a major shift in Botswana’s education system, with candidates assessed under both legacy BGCSE syllabuses and the new Botswana Senior Secondary Education (BSSE) framework.

“Out of the 46 syllabuses offered, 21 were legacy BGCSE subjects while 25 fell under the BSSE framework, with 21 of those assessed for the first time. This represents a significant change in the assessment structure, and as such comparison with previous cohorts is not applicable,” she added.

The 2025 BGCSE results have shown that 95.65 per cent of candidates attained grade G or better, 78.68 per cent achieved grade E or better, while a total of 37.07 per cent obtained grade C or better and only 3.01 per cent of candidates attained grade A or better.

Minister Kgafela-Mokoka said a total of 35 366 candidates sat for the 2025 BGCSE from public and private schools, the Botswana Open University (BOU) and among private candidates.

Of these 35 366 candidates, she said a total of 22 930 or 59.18 per cent were female, while 14 436 or 40.82 per cent were male.

Furthermore, Ms Kgafela-Mokoka explained that outstanding performance in the 2025 examinations was defined as achieving at least six A grades, adding that 11 candidates from seven examination centres met the benchmark.

From a total of 11 subjects, she said the best-performing candidate achieved seven A* grades, two A grades and two C grades.

Ms Kgafela-Mokoka said BGCSE remained a syllabus-based qualification in which each subject was graded independently on a scale ranging from A* to G.

Therefore, she said candidates who failed to reach the minimum requirement, awarded a U grade, while those who did not meet grading requirements, due to special circumstances such as absence, received an X.

BEC board chairperson, Dr Olefile Molwane commended the 2025 BGCSE cohort for their achievements, adding that the results represented the true capabilities of the candidates.

Dr Molwane said the results were approved by the BEC on March 26, 2026, following thorough verification processes to ensure their credibility.

Despite the examinations having been conducted according to established procedures, he expressed concern that there were a few incidents of examination malpractice that were recorded.

He assured the nation that administrative and legal action had been taken against offenders and the ministry would intensify engagement with stakeholders to prevent future violations. ends