Cameroon's best secondary schools: the official rankings
'What is the best school in Cameroon?' There is no single answer, but there are official rankings. On the French-speaking side, the Office du Baccalauréat du Cameroun publishes an annual ranking of schools based on their exam pass rates. On the English-speaking side, the GCE Board does not rank schools but publishes an honour roll of centres that achieved a 100% pass rate. This page presents those rankings as published, without inventing any of our own, followed by some historical background on the best-known schools.
Information checked on
The Office du Baccalauréat ranking
This ranking is official: it is compiled and published by the OBC itself, then reported by the press. It comes out several months after the exams, usually in February or March of the following year. The criterion is the school's overall pass rate in the official exams, and only schools that entered at least 60 candidates are ranked. The ranking for the 2022 session, published in February 2023, was the 17th edition and covered 1,393 schools; the 2023 ranking, published on 8 February 2024, covered 1,384 schools, 910 of which passed the 50% mark. For the 2020 session, disrupted by Covid-19, the OBC published rankings by type of education and category rather than a single national table.
| Session (published) | 1st | 2nd | 3rd |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 (March 2019) | Collège Jean-Tabi, Yaoundé: 100% | Collège F.-X. Vogt, Yaoundé: 98.84% | Collège Libermann, Douala: 98.75% |
| 2019 (April 2020) | Collège Jean-Tabi: 100% | Collège Vogt: 99.15% | Collège Libermann: 98.23% |
| 2022 (February 2023) | Jean-Tabi and Vogt, tied: 99.75% | — | Collège Libermann: 99.62% |
| 2023 (February 2024) | Collège Vogt: 100% | Collège Libermann: 100% | Collège Jean-Tabi: 100% |
| 2025 (March 2026) | Collège Libermann: 100% | Collège Jean-Tabi: 99.80% | Collège Mgr F.-X. Vogt: 99.69% |
- The trio of Jean-Tabi, Vogt and Libermann, three Catholic schools in Yaoundé and Douala, has filled the podium in every edition found since 2018.
- Best state school: in 2018 the first state school only came 12th (the agricultural technical and vocational lycée in Yabassi, 88.61%), and only five state schools made the top 30 (Camer.be). In 2023 the agricultural technical and vocational lycée in Lagdo was the top state school at 98.04%, behind the Collège bilingue Adonaï (99.18%).
- In 2025, according to Journal du Cameroun, which attributes the ranking to the Ministry of Secondary Education, the top 10 is made up entirely of schools in Douala and Yaoundé, with two technical schools in 6th and 7th place, including CETIF Saint-Esprit.
The GCE Board honour roll
The GCE Board does not publish an ordered ranking of schools. On camgceb.org it posts an 'Examination Centres on Honor Roll' list: centres that entered at least 10 candidates and achieved a 100% pass rate, sorted by number of passes. For the 2026 session, more than 160 centres are on the O Level list and 32 on the A Level list. The Board also lists the top candidates (33 points at O Level, 25 points at A Level). Cameroon Tribune singles out Saker Baptist College in Limbe, Sacred Heart College in Mankon and Saint Benedict College in Mvolyé among the standout schools of 2026.
| School | Type | Passed / sat |
|---|---|---|
| Saker Baptist College, Limbe | Denominational | 126 / 126 |
| Jesus and Marie College | Denominational | 94 / 94 |
| Sacred Heart College, Mankon | Denominational | 93 / 93 |
| Our Lady of Lourdes Secondary College, Mankon | Denominational | 87 / 87 |
| Saint Anne's High School, Limbe | Denominational | 64 / 64 |
| Sacred Heart College, Douala | Denominational | 58 / 58 |
| Bishop Rogan College, Small Soppo (Buea) | Denominational | 41 / 41 |
| Sonara College, Limbe | Non-denominational | 41 / 41 |
| Saint Joseph's College, Sasse | Denominational | 37 / 37 |
Just below 100%, Saint Benedict College in Mvolyé (Yaoundé) had the largest A Level entry of 2026: 240 passes out of 242 who sat (99.17%). At O Level 2026, the 100% centres with the most candidates were Saint Benedict College Mvolyé (306 out of 306), Saint Stephen's International College in Yaoundé (175), Saker Baptist College (147), Sacred Heart College Mankon (140) and Complexe scolaire NAL in Bonamoussadi, Douala (139). State schools remain rare on these lists; by type of school, denominational schools reached 91.25% at O Level 2026, against 71.91% for state schools.
Historic and renowned schools
The table below does not rank these schools: it gathers verifiable facts about their founding, from their Wikipedia pages. Cameroon Protestant College in Bali, often cited among the great English-speaking colleges, is left out because we did not consult a source for its founding date.
| School | City | Founded | Status and background |
|---|---|---|---|
| St. Joseph's College, Sasse | Buea | 1939 (started at Bonjongo in 1937) | Catholic, boys only, founded by the Mill Hill Missionaries; described as the first secondary school in the Cameroons |
| Collège François-Xavier-Vogt | Yaoundé (Mvolyé) | 1947 at Efok, moved to Mvolyé in 1951-1952 | Catholic; run by the Brothers of the Community of Saint John since 1993 |
| Lycée Joss | Douala | 1951 (became a lycée in 1954) | State school; among the oldest secondary schools in the country |
| Collège Libermann | Douala | 1952 | Catholic; founded by the Spiritans, run by the Jesuits since 1957, co-educational since 1968 |
| Lycée Général-Leclerc | Yaoundé (Ngoa-Ekélé) | Opened on 21 October 1952 | State school; about 7,000 pupils in 2019, up to 17,000 at its peak |
| Collège Jean-Tabi | Yaoundé (Etoudi) | 1956 | Catholic; diocesan since 1971, run by the Sisters Servants of the Holy Heart of Mary since 1975 |
| Saker Baptist College | Limbe | 1962 | Baptist, girls only, affiliated with the Cameroon Baptist Convention |
Among former pupils of Lycée Général-Leclerc, Wikipedia lists President Paul Biya and the film-maker and journalist Thérèse Sita-Bella.
How to read these rankings
- A pass rate says nothing about selection at entry: a school that picks its pupils and a state lycée that takes everyone do not start from the same place.
- The 60-candidate threshold (OBC) or 10-candidate threshold (GCE Board) leaves out small schools, and the OBC ranking cannot be compared directly with the GCE Board honour roll.
- Journal du Cameroun points out that a school's educational ethos, the pupil's wellbeing and distance from home also matter when choosing a school.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best school in Cameroon?
In the official 2025 ranking, Collège Libermann in Douala came first with a 100% pass rate, ahead of Collège Jean-Tabi (99.80%) and Collège Vogt (99.69%), both in Yaoundé. These three Catholic schools have shared the podium since at least 2018.
Who publishes the ranking of secondary schools in Cameroon?
For the French-speaking subsystem it is the Office du Baccalauréat du Cameroun, every year around February or March. For the GCE, the GCE Board publishes an honour roll of centres with a 100% pass rate, without an ordered ranking.
What is the best state school in Cameroon?
In the 2023 session ranking, the top state school was the agricultural technical and vocational lycée in Lagdo, with a 98.04% pass rate. We could not find this figure for 2025.
Which schools do best at the GCE?
In 2026, Saker Baptist College in Limbe (126 passes out of 126), Sacred Heart College and Our Lady of Lourdes in Mankon were among the centres with a 100% A Level pass rate, according to the GCE Board.
What is the oldest secondary school in Cameroon?
Wikipedia describes St. Joseph's College Sasse, near Buea, founded in 1939 by the Mill Hill Missionaries, as the first secondary school in the Cameroons. On the French-speaking side, Collège Vogt dates back to 1947 and Lycée Joss in Douala to 1951.
Handle with care
The ranking for the 2024 session could not be found. For 2025, Journal du Cameroun refers to a 'MINESEC ranking' without saying whether the OBC compiled it, as in previous editions, and does not give the full top 10. For the 2020 session, only Collège Jean-Tabi (99.77%, denominational general education) is cited with certainty. The count of 100% centres on the GCE Board list is based on the page consulted in October 2026, attached to the 2026 session communiqué.