The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has announced a significant drop in candidates’ performance in the 2025 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), linking it to newly implemented anti-examination malpractice strategies.
At a press briefing held in Lagos, Dr. Amos Josiah Dangut, WAEC’s Head of National Office, stated that only 38.32% of the 1,969,313 candidates who sat for the exam obtained credits and above in five subjects, including English Language and Mathematics.
This represents a sharp 33.8% drop from the 72.12% success rate recorded in 2024.
“The drop in performance can be attributed to new anti-malpractice measures, including the serialisation of objective papers in key subjects, which made collusion and cheating more difficult,” Dangut explained.
He revealed that 1,517,517 results (77.06%) have been fully processed and released, while 22.94% (451,796 results) are still being processed due to administrative or technical challenges.
A gender breakdown of the 754,545 candidates who passed five subjects, including English and Mathematics, showed females slightly outperforming males.
Of the total, 407,353 (53.99%) were female, and 347,192 (46.01%) were male.
Meanwhile, 87.24% (1,718,090 candidates) obtained credits and above in at least five subjects, irrespective of whether they included English and Mathematics.
On exam integrity, Dangut revealed that results of 192,089 candidates (9.75%) are being withheld due to alleged involvement in malpractice, a decline from the 11.92% withheld in 2024.
A total of 12,178 special needs candidates also participated in the examination, including visually impaired, hearing-impaired, and physically or mentally challenged students.
Their results were processed alongside those of other candidates.
WAEC used the briefing to reiterate its commitment to fully adopting Computer-Based Testing (CBT) by 2026, in alignment with a directive from the Federal Government.
“The Council is concluding arrangements for the total conduct of Computer-Based WASSCE for School Candidates in 2026,” Dangut said.
He noted that in 2025, candidates had the choice between the traditional paper format and a hybrid CBT model where questions were displayed on a screen while answers were written in booklets. By 2026, all school candidates will sit the exam entirely on computers.
Addressing another concern, Dangut cautioned that students sponsored by indebted state governments will not be able to access their results until the outstanding payments are cleared.
“We appeal to concerned state governments to settle their debts so affected candidates are not denied access to their results,” he urged.
WAEC also unveiled several digital tools and platforms designed to improve access, transparency, and efficiency in the examination process. These include:
WAEC E-Study platform (digital access to past questions)
WAECKonnect app (revision tools, updates, and an AI assistant)
Real-time digital scoring during marking coordination
Digital certificates accessible within 48 hours of result release
“Our goal is to make examinations more accessible, credible, and transparent. We urge all stakeholders, schools, candidates, parents, and the media to join us in preparing for this digital future,” Dangut concluded.
