10 Main Reasons Why Students Often Failed the GCE Examination

The Cameroon GCE examination has become one of the most competitive examinations in Cameroon. It’s the only examination where students are tested to see their strengths and weakness.

It’s the only exam that gives joy or pain when the results are results to students and their families.

Even though it’s very easy to pass the GCE O/L and A/L, there are a vast number of students who are still failing this examination.

In this blog post, we are going to take you on a step-by-step 10 reasons why you might likely fail the GCE.

1). Neglecting Past Questions And Answers

Neglecting past questions and answers during your days in school is one of the main reasons why you likely failed the GCE.

Even if you are poor and financially not able to afford to buy past questions and answers, you can once in a while borrow from close friends who have it.

Reading for GCE without testing yourself with past GCE questions and knowing the correct answers to these questions can result in your failure of GCE.

My advice to you is that buy past questions and answers booklets from at least the last 5 years behind you.

Do not depend on these past questions and answers, but use them as a guide to know how ready you are for the GCE examinations.

2). Time Mismanagement

You can also fail the GCE if you do properly learn to manage your time. Time management is key to success in examinations. You must learn how to manage your time while preparing for the GCE.

You can do this by always trying to time yourself on how fast you can answer a GCE past question.

This form of time management before writing the actual GCE will help you be able to manage your time during the GCE examination properly.

3). Late Preparation

Another reason why you failed the GCE is because of your late preparation for the GCE examinations.

Some students only start preparing for the GCE only when they are told the GCE is starting in 30 days or two weeks.

There is no way you can pass the GCE if you only start studying or preparing for it only a week or two before the GCE start date itself.

The only way you can avoid this type of GCE failure is by start preparing for your GCE as soon as you register your subjects. There is no time to waste.

Read: 6 Ways to Score an A+ Grade in your assignments

4). Laziness and Procrastination

Laziness and procrastination are one of the major reasons why you are likely to fail the GCE.

A lot of students in this 21^st Century have become too lazy, they spend more time on sports, outings, partying, and carrying relationship drama in their heads.

While others are busy studying, they are busy doing the wrong stuff. Some have joined the social media trend of watching TikTok videos and taking Instagram pictures all day.

While doing all of the above-listed stuff, some begin to feel like they have a lot of time left to study and so began to procrastinate on their studies.

Some other sets of students, carry religion or church matters in their heads. These sets of students go to church almost every day.

They often have the belief that they will automatically pass the GCE since they are going to church every day or simply because they classify themselves as children of God.

Note that prayer without work is in vain. I consider anyone who prays every day without reading for their GCE examination terrorists.

Besides being lazy students, some students have a habit of procrastinating in life. Procrastination in simple terms means, pushing forward an activity you need to do today to do another with the hope that you still have time.

This is the leading cause of many students. They simply procrastinate when they will go to class when they will study etc.

This often results in the accumulation of unread notes which they often begin to study only when the GCE is around.

5). Cramming

Cramming has been one of the reasons why students failed the GCE. It’s not advisable to Cramm for an examination such as GCE. GCE is a big examination that often involves a lot of topics cutting from different areas. 

Sometimes, some student limits their cramming to reading only areas that are confined to past questions.

Yes, indeed, the Cameroon GCE often repeated questions, but how on earth will you be able to tell which question the GCE is going to repeat? So, avoid cramming at all costs, it will cost you your failure in the GCE.

  Read: When will Cameroon GCE 2023 results be released?

6). Hiring an Agent to Write GCE for You

Some students have a bad habit of paying their siblings or family members or friends or even going the length of hiring someone (agent- to write the entire GCE exams for them or maybe write a particular subject that’s hard for them.

Hiring someone to write the GCE for you is one of the key reasons why you failed the GCE. No one is allowed to write the GCE for another.

If the agent or person is caught, it will result in serious consequences and the termination of your entire GCE examinations.

7). Ignoring Instructions

Yes, ignoring simple exams instruction could be one of the reasons why you fail the GCE. Learn to be patient to read slowing the instruction given during the examination. If it says to use a pencil, if it says to use a black pen do, so.

Also, failure to obey instructions inside the examinations hall like coming early to school, sitting quite during examinations, avoiding cheating, or any form of malpractice in the examination hall might result in your overall reason why you failed the GCE.

8). Bad Handwriting

Some students have failed the Cameroon GCE simply because of their poor or bad handwriting. Even if you are as intelligent as Albert Einstein, if you have poor or bad handwriting, you might likely still fail the GCE.

First, you stress the examiner when going through your script. How on earth can one mark or grade an examination script if they cannot read what you writing?

Note that unless your regular classroom examination where you could take your script to your teacher to explain what you wrote, this would not be the case with the marketing of your GCE script.

So, if you know deep down you have bad handwriting, try as much as possible to practice writing well prior before the GCE examination. This would reduce your risk and chances of failing.

9). Having Faith In Examination Malpractice And Special Centres

Another main reason you might fail the Cameroon GCE is because of your bad attitude toward examination malpractices and the belief that writing in certain centers will bring you a favour and good luck.

There are some examination centers in Cameroon where examination malpractices are common. Most of the time, corrupt teachers have a habit of telling students answers to questions to the hearing of everyone.

This practice has often resulted in some students becoming lazy and thus putting all their hopes that their teachers will reveal or help them in the exam hall.

Another form of malpractice that results in your failure in the GCE is because you spend all your energy reading only the topics or areas you were told that the GCE was leaking.

This form of examination preparation often results to the mass failure of students as the GCE board often sets more than 2-3 different examination papers for the same subject in case there has been a leak in any one of the settings, they automatically switch to another setting.

Read: 10 Ways to find happiness as a Student

10). Fear and Anxiety

Fear and Anxiety are other possible reasons why you failed the GCE. Sometimes, you might prepare very hard for the GCE, but the fear of failure and anxiety might begin to develop in you a week or two before the writing of the GCE examination itself.

You might also develop fear when you come across the GCE examination paper itself. This sort of fear is often referred to as examinophobia. It’s the fear that cokes when you come inside the exam room. If, you are unable to overcome this type of fear and anxiety will result in your failure in the GCE.

Read: Top 10 Secret Tips to Pass the GCE O/L and A/L at All Times 

Final Conclusion

It’s very sad to still see many students fail the GCE O/L and A/L each year. Yet, many students do not know the reasons why they failed the GCE.

This blog post has highlighted all the 10 possible reasons why you might likely fail the GCE. I suggest you read the article twice so that you do not commit any of the above-listed causes of failure of students in the GCE.