The Simon Diedong Dombo University of Business and Integrated Development Studies (SDD-UBIDS) has celebrated a remarkable achievement as 64% of its inaugural Bachelor of Laws (LLB) graduates passed the Ghana School of Law entrance examination. Vice-Chancellor Professor Emmanuel Kanchebe Derbile announced the milestone during the university’s 4th Congregation Ceremony at Bamahu, Wa, on Saturday.
Out of 42 graduates who sat for the Professional Law Entrance Examination in September, 27 successfully passed and gained admission to begin their professional legal training. This achievement represents a significant breakthrough for northern Ghana, which had no law school producing LLB graduates until SDD-UBIDS launched its programme. The success rate substantially exceeds recent national averages for the notoriously challenging examination.
The university held its maiden special congregation on 12th July this year, conferring LLB degrees on 62 law students from its School of Law. This ceremony marked the first time in Ghanaian tertiary education history that a university in northern Ghana has awarded law degrees, coming 58 years after independence. Not all graduates chose to sit the entrance examination, which explains the difference between the 62 who graduated and the 42 who applied to Ghana School of Law.
Professor Derbile emphasized the historic nature of this achievement for the region and the country. He noted that SDD-UBIDS would now be presenting 27 graduates to Ghana School of Law for the professional training required before they can be called to the Bar. The Vice-Chancellor expressed pride in how the School of Law has performed, describing it as a milestone for the university, northern Ghana and the nation.
The entrance examination into Ghana School of Law has gained notoriety for its low pass rates, making SDD-UBIDS’s 64% success particularly impressive. Recent data shows that in 2023, only 33% of candidates passed the examination. The 2022 sitting saw an even more challenging result, with fewer than 20% of the 2,654 candidates successfully gaining admission. By contrast, the 2020 examination produced a 38% pass rate among the 2,763 candidates who attempted it.
The examination covers six core subjects including Law of Contract, Law of Torts, Criminal Law, Law of Immovable Property, Constitutional Law, and Ghana Legal Systems and Methods. Candidates must achieve at least 50% overall to qualify for admission to the Professional Law Course. The rigorous nature of this gatekeeping examination has sparked ongoing debates about legal education reform in Ghana.
The 4th Congregation Ceremony also saw the university award degrees to 2,183 students across various programmes. The graduating class included 688 postgraduate students, among them 10 doctoral candidates, 30 Master of Philosophy recipients, and more than 500 Master of Science graduates. An additional 1,495 students received undergraduate degrees and diplomas.
Professor Derbile urged the graduating students to serve as worthy ambassadors for the university as they embark on their professional careers. His call reflects the institution’s commitment to producing graduates who will uphold the highest standards in their chosen fields.
SDD-UBIDS launched its School of Law in March 2023 with an inaugural enrollment of 105 students pursuing four-year and three-year law study programmes. The Deputy Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Mrs. Diana Asonaba Dapaa, officiated at the launch ceremony and emphasized the importance of bringing legal education closer to northern Ghana. At the time, she called on the school authorities to maintain the highest quality standards in their training programmes.
The university currently enrolls 464 law students, comprising 317 men and 147 women. This growing student body reflects increasing demand for legal education in the northern sector, which had historically been underserved in this area since Ghana’s first law school was established in the 1960s.
The Ghana School of Law, established in 1958 by Ghana’s first President Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, remains the primary institution for professional legal training in the country. It was the first of its kind in Sub-Saharan Africa and continues to serve students from other Commonwealth countries in the region. All LLB graduates must complete the Professional Law Course at Ghana School of Law before they can be enrolled as Barristers at Law and Solicitors of the Supreme Court.
SDD-UBIDS was created as a full university through an act of Parliament in 2019, becoming fully autonomous in 2020. The institution evolved from the former University for Development Studies Wa Campus and admitted its first batch of students as an independent university in 2021. The university is strategically positioned to serve the developmental and educational needs of the Upper West Region and northern Ghana more broadly.
