KNUST Abolishes Supplementary Examinations for 2025/26 and 2026/27 Academic Years

The Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology has announced that supplementary examinations will not be held for the 2025/26 and 2026/27 academic years as part of measures to revert to the old academic calendar.

KNUST Students writing an exam

The decision was taken at the 440th Special Meeting of the Academic Board held on Monday, February 16, 2026, where the Board approved the proposed academic calendar for the 2026/2027 academic year, subject to some modifications.

In place of supplementary examinations, the Academic Board has approved a special dispensation for students with trails. Under the arrangement, affected students will be allowed to add up to two trail courses to their regular semester workload and write the papers at the end of the relevant semester. The measure is intended to support students with outstanding courses to progress to the next academic level.

Under this arrangement, students who have more than two trail courses will not be allowed to write all outstanding papers in a single semester. Such students will be required to select only two trail courses to add to their registered courses for that semester and sit for those examinations alongside their regular papers. Any additional trail courses beyond the two permitted will have to be deferred to subsequent semesters, where the same rule will apply until all outstanding courses are cleared.

This means that students with multiple trails will clear their outstanding courses progressively across semesters, rather than through a single supplementary examination period. University authorities say this approach is intended to reduce academic overload while ensuring fairness and steady academic progression under the restored calendar system.

The directive was contained in a memo dated February 17, 2026 signed by Lucy Diawuo, Esq., Secretary to the Academic Board and Deputy Registrar for Academic Affairs., and addressed to all Provosts and Directors, including those of the Institute of Distance Learning and the School of Graduate Studies. The Academic Board has called for the cooperation of all stakeholders to ensure a smooth transition under the new arrangement.