Predictive Validity of Basic Education Certificate Examination on Students’ Academic Achievement in Senior School Certificate Examination in Ibadan, Nigeria

The Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) is a stepping stone for admission into the Senior Secondary School. Students that transited from Junior Secondary School to Senior Secondary School are expected to have the ability, enablement and the necessary skills needed to cope with all the academic challenges of Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (SSCE). However, the reverse is the case as students’ performance in the SSCE has been very low despite that same students obtained good grades in the Basic Education Certificate Examination(BECE).This study examined the predictive validity of Basic Education Certificate Examination on students’ academic achievement in Senior School Certificate Examination. This study adopted a descriptive survey research design of the ex-post facto type. Students’ achievement records of 200 candidates for 2016 Senior School Certificate (SSCE) results and their Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) results in 2013 were used for the study. Five research questions were tested and analysed, using frequency counts, percentages, Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation and Multiple Regression analysis tested at the 0.05 level of significance. The findings revealed that the performance of students in BECE in all the subjects under consideration had low but positive correlation with the performance in SSCE. Also, findings revealed that there was a significant correlation between BECE English Language and Mathematics and SSCE English Language and Mathematics. Based on the findings, it was recommended that Government should intensify more effort at ensuring better teaching and learning strategies in schools through effective supervision and monitoring of schools.