NSMQ 2026: St. John’s Grammar School Holds Firm in Fierce Showdown to Book Quarter-Final Spot!

Main Auditorium – August 26, 2026

The final contest of the day saw St. John’s Grammar School, Mpraeso SHS and Tema Secondary School battle for a place in the Quarter-final Stage, with St. John’s Grammar School taking an early lead and maintaining its advantage throughout the five rounds.

Before the contest resumed, Quiz Mistress Dr Anita Oppong shared a warm and cheerful exchange with the contestants, helping to ease the tension as the teams prepared for the final rounds of the day.

Quiz Mistress, Dr Anita Oppong, as she encouraged the teams before the contest continued.

St. John’s Grammar School took an early lead in Round One, the General Questions round, scoring 28 points to establish a 12-point advantage over Mpraeso SHS and a 20-point lead over Tema Secondary School. Mpraeso SHS finished the round with 16 points, while Tema Secondary School recorded eight.

St. John’s Grammar School maintained its lead in Round Two, the Trustur AI Speed Race, adding one point to take its tally to 29 points. Mpraeso SHS moved to 28 points, while Tema Secondary School remained on eight points.

Mpraeso SHS Student Left Shocked by Round Two Results

In Round Three, the Prudential Life Insurance NSMQ Star, Problem of the Day, St. John’s Grammar School extended its lead to 30 points. Mpraeso SHS moved to 13 points, while Tema Secondary School reached nine points.

Round Four, the Jupay Money Transfer True/False round, saw St. John’s Grammar School further increase its advantage, securing the available bonus to move to 40 points. Mpraeso SHS advanced to 17 points, while Tema Secondary School reached 13 points.

Reactions from the audience as scores were updated

The reactions from the audience grew louder as the scores were updated, particularly when teams secured points and bonuses that could influence their final positions.

St. John’s Grammar School entered Round Five, the GOIL Riddle Bonanza, with a sizeable advantage and held on to it through the final stage. The school finished with 40 points, while Mpraeso SHS ended with 23 points and Tema Secondary School with 13 points. Mpraeso SHS  entered the National Science & Maths Quiz 2026 championship as a seeded school for three years (since 2023), but unfortunately they have being eliminated by St. John's Grammar School. 

The Round-by-Round Scores for this contest stood as follows:

ROUND 1  St. John's Grammar School – 28 points Mpraeso SHS – 16 points Tema Secondary School – 8 points

ROUND 2 (Trustur AI Speed Race)  St. John's Grammar School - 29

Mpraeso SHS - 12

Tema Secondary School - 8

ROUND 3 (Prudential Life Insurance NSMQ Star, Problem of the Day)  St. John's Grammar School - 30 Mpraeso SHS - 13 Tema Secondary School - 9

ROUND 4 (Jupay Money Transfer True/False)  St. John's Grammar School   +1     -    40

Mpraeso SHS                        +1    -   17 Tema Secondary School       +1    -   13

ROUND 5 (GOIL Riddle Bonanza)  St. John's Grammar School - 40 Mpraeso SHS - 23 Tema Secondary School - 13 The 2026 edition of the National Science & Maths Quiz is produced by Primetime Limited and proudly sponsored by the Ghana Education Service (GES), with support from GOIL PLC, Joy News, Prudential Life Insurance Ghana, Pepsodent, Cowbell, Trustur AI, Jupay Money Transfer, Lumevax, GTP, SpinCiti Laundromat, Didi Jollof, Bel Beverages, Accra College of Medicine, Coronation Insurance Ghana, Academic City University and YFM.