National Examination Council (NECO) 2022 BECE Registration Guidelines and Instructions

Online registration for the National Examinations Council (NECO) Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) for the final year of Junior Secondary School (JSS 3) – often referred to as Junior WAEC – has commenced.

About NECO BECE

The Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) is the examination conducted for candidates in their final year of Junior Secondary School. It is used for transition from JSS 3 of the basic education class to the senior secondary school.

While each state of the federation and the FCT conduct the BECE for their candidates, NECO conducts for Federal Unity Colleges and other allied institutions.

Interested private secondary schools also take the examination, provided they are permitted by their States Ministries of Education. BECE certificate replaces the primary school certificate as the first school leaving certificate.

Eighteen subjects are administered at the BECE level. A candidate is to register for a minimum of nine subjects and a maximum of ten subjects.

The BECE grading system is as follows:

A – Distinction
B – Upper Credit
C – Lower Credit
P – Pass
F – Fail

NECO Registration Instructions and Guidelines

Find below the comprehensive procedure and guidelines for the 2022 BECE registration. You are requested to painstakingly read through, understand and comply with the requirements therein. Do not hesitate to ask questions or seek for an explanation on any aspect of the registration procedure which you may not have clearly understood. Please note that you are expected to read and clearly understand this registration procedure and guidelines before embarking on the registration exercise.

ELIGIBILITY FOR REGISTRATION:

Principals/Commandants of Schools are hereby informed that only candidates in their final year of Junior Secondary School i.e. (JSS3) are eligible for registration. For the avoidance of doubt, the 2022 NECO BECE is meant for only school-based candidates in Nigeria and overseas. Principals/Commandants of schools and State Ministries of Education should endeavour to enforce the eligibility condition.

REGISTRATION PROCEDURE:

The 2022 BECE registration will be both OFFLINE and ONLINE.

OFFLINE REGISTRATION

Schools are to install the 2022 BECE offline application by downloading from the Council’s website: www.neco.gov.ng. The user manual on the step-by-step offline and online registration procedure can also be downloaded from the Council’s website. Schools are to make all entries of their candidates’ bio-data offline and intermittently synchronize online to avoid loss of data. Ensure that all prospective Candidates are registered offline, such that as they pay, they could be uploaded online progressively. Please note that a candidate is only registered if his/her offline entries are uploaded online to obtain a registration number. Online upload is only possible upon payment of registration fees.

VISUALLY IMPAIRED CANDIDATES

Visually impaired candidates are to be registered like everyone. However, the nature of their disability is to be indicated correctly when making entry of their bio-data in the offline application during registration. Visually impaired candidates are of two categories:

1. Low Vision
2. Complete Blindness

OFFLINE VALIDATION

After successful offline registration, schools are to do the offline bio-data validation before uploading registration data online. Candidates are to check and make all corrections of Name, Picture, Date of Birth, Sex, Subjects etc., before uploading the registration data online. PLEASE NOTE THAT THE COUNCIL IS NOT LIABLE FOR REGISTRATION ERRORS. ALL REGISTRATION ERRORS MUST BE CORRECTED DURING THE VALIDATION PROCESS BEFORE UPLOADING THE REGISTRATION ONLINE.

PROCEDURE FOR OFFLINE VALIDATION

Upon completion of the offline registration, schools are to print the offline photocards of all the candidates from the offline application and issue to each candidate to confirm that his/her Picture, Name, State, Local Government Area (LGA), Date of Birth, Sex and the Subjects he/she wishes to sit for are all correct. Where errors are discovered, candidates should correct such errors on the photocard and sign in the appropriate column. Where there are no errors, Candidates should just sign the appropriate column. All signed photocards are to be returned to the person doing the registration to enter all corrections in the offline application. NOTE THAT ALL CORRECTIONS MUST BE DONE OFFLINE AND DUPLICATION OF REGISTRATION WILL NOT BE ENTERTAINED. The Council is

not liable for any registration errors committed by schools during registration and will only entertain non-validation after schools have uploaded their entries online upon payment of fine. Please note that any school that requests for correction of Name (only error in spelling of Name will be entertained), Picture, Date of Birth, Sex or Subject(s) is deemed to have indulged in “NON- VALIDATION”. The penalty fee for non-validation is Seven Thousand Naira (N7,000.00) only per candidate irrespective of the nature of non-validation.

After effecting all corrections, the validation list should be printed and given to candidates to further confirm that all the corrections they made on their photocards (if any) have been duly effected. Where Candidates discover on the Validation List that the error(s) were not effected, the attention of the person doing the registration should be drawn to effect the correction(s). Candidates should append their signatures on the corrected copy of the Validation list against their respective names. The signed offline validation list is one of the documents to be returned to respective NECO State Offices along with other Validation Documents.

SCHOOL ACTIVATION FOR PAYMENT

Each School must be activated by the NECO State Officer of each respective State and FCT before payment and upload could be possible. Schools are to return the Validation Documents to their respective State Officers, who would thereafter, activate the School for payment of the required candidates to conclude the registration.

The validation Documents to be returned to NECO State Offices before activation are:

1. Validation List duly signed by the candidates
2. Candidates’ signed Photocards
3. Entry Schedule
4. Subject Analysis

Schools are to note that Centre activation commences on 10th January 2022.

PAYMENT PROCEDURE AND UPLOAD

All payments should strictly be made through the school’s online NECO portal. Upon successful payment, registration quota is allocated according to the amount paid into the NECO TSA. After the quota is allocated, schools can select the individual candidates to upload (if the payment is not for all candidates) by checking the selection boxes against each candidate’s name or clicking the “check all “box to select the entire candidates, if the payment is for all the candidates. Note that when paying in installments, initial payment should be made for at least 20 candidates to avoid being surcharged for unviable centre fee.

After successful payment, quotas allocated and the payment receipt is sent to the administrator’s email address. Schools can also print their payment receipt from the transaction history in their school profile and submit a copy to the NECO State Office along with the final Validation list that carries Candidates’ registration numbers. The allocated quota would be used to upload and register candidates. After successful upload, registration numbers are automatically assigned to each registered candidate on both the final photocard and validation list. Immediately after completion of the registration, schools should print the final validation list and give all candidates to sign against their respective names. The payment receipt and the signed final validation list should be endorsed by the School Principal/Commandant before submission to NECO State Office. The final photocards that bear the candidates’ registration numbers are to be used for admission of candidates into the examination hall(s), as well as for candidates’ biometric verification exercise during the examination.

DETAILS OF EXAMINATION FEES

Details of the Examination fees and other registration materials are as follows:

1. Registration fee for the 2022 BECE is N8,700.00 only per candidate
2. Unviable Centre fee is N12,500.00
3. Syllabus is N1,500.00 per copy
4. Late Registration attracts a Penalty of additional N2,000.00 per candidate
5. The registration fee for BECE Re-sit is N3,000.00 per subject per candidate
6. Note that Stamp Duty, Service and Remita charges apply

MINIMUM NUMBER OF CANDIDATES

The minimum number of candidates to be registered by a school is 20 (twenty).

Any school registering less than twenty candidates is deemed unviable and as such shall pay unviable centre fee of Twelve Thousand Five Hundred Naira (N12,500.00) only, if they wish to write the examination in their school.

SYLLABUS

The syllabus for NECO BECE is available at the cost of One Thousand Five Hundred Naira (N1,500)

only per copy. Each School is advised to have at least four copies.

3RD YEAR CONTINUOUS ASSESSMENT SCORES (CA3)

The period for CA3 entries by schools is from 9th May to 20th June, 2022. Schools should ensure that they use the offline application to make entries for CA3 within the stipulated period, ensure complete upload and print CA3 for reference purpose.

Procedure for CA3 entry and upload:

• Login to the Offline portal
• Click on Third Year CA menu
• Select the Candidate
• Make entries for CA3 and save
• Connect online and upload by synchronizing all saved entries

Any school that fails to upload the CA3 within the stipulated period stated above, will not have result until it pays late submission penalty fee of Twenty-five Thousand Naira (N25,000.00) only and also upload the CA3.

Any school still having candidates (partial or full) without CA3 for 2019, 2020 and 2021 registration should endeavour to pay the late submission penalty fee of Twenty-five Thousand Naira (N25,000.00) only for the specific year and also upload the CA3 immediately as this is why your candidates are yet to receive their results.

ONLINE CENTRE DISPUTE

Online centre dispute is the procedure for changing the schools’ login detail for those that could not access their portal on the NECO website due to one reason or the other. Schools are advised to always use an official email address as this will stop the constant changing of login details. However, all dispute request should henceforth be officially channeled through the various State Offices. This is to authenticate the request and stop unauthorized parties gaining access into schools’ portal without their consent, as experienced lately.

REGISTRATION PERIOD AND CLOSING DATE

1. The registration period is between Monday 13th December, 2021 and Monday 25th April, 2022.
2. The website will be closed at 12:00 midnight on Monday 25th April, 2022.
3. The last date for return of printed payment receipt and endorsed final validation list is Friday 6th May, 2022.
4. The registration period for BECE Resit is between 18th July and 3rd August, 2022
5. The tentative date for BECE Resit is between 3rd and 4th August, 2022

PROCEDURE FOR REGISTRATION OF BECE RESIT

The procedure for registration of BECE Resit is as follows:

• Login to your school profile with your center number, username and password
• Select Resit
• Select make payment
• Proceed to pay with any of the five payment options:
  • Card payment
  • Bank Branch
  • USSD
  • Internet Banking
  • Wallet

PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING IMPORTANT DATES AGAIN

1. Commencement of registration by schools is from Monday 13th December, 2021.
2. Last date for registration by schools is Monday 25th April, 2022.
3. Last date for closure of website is Monday 25th April, 2022.
4. Last date for the return of payment receipt and endorsed final validation list, Friday 6th May, 2022.
5. Last date for upload of CA3 online is 20th June, 2022.
6. The Examination will hold from 9th May to 30th May, 2022.
7. The tentative date for BECE Resit is between 3rd and 4th August, 2022.