The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has raised concern over a significant drop in performance in the 2025 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), with only 38.32% of candidates securing credit passes in five subjects, including English Language and Mathematics.
This marks a worrying 33.8 percentage point decrease compared to the 72.12% recorded in 2024.
The announcement was made by the Head of WAEC’s Nigeria National Office, Mr Amos Dangut, during a press conference held in Lagos on Monday, 4th August. He officially unveiled the results for school candidates who sat the May/June examination.
Out of 1,969,313 candidates who took the exam across 23,554 schools nationwide, 1,718,090 (87.24%) obtained credit and above in five subjects or more, regardless of whether English and Mathematics were included. However, only 754,545 candidates (38.32%) achieved the benchmark of five credits including both core subjects. Of this number, 53.99% were female, while 46.01% were male.
Mr Dangut attributed the overall decline in performance to the new examination model introduced by WAEC, which includes the deployment of varied sets of objective questions in a bid to reduce malpractice. While performance in the essay sections remained stable, the objective segment saw a noticeable dip.
He added that although the examination process was largely smooth, there were isolated cases of logistical challenges in some centres. The council’s collaboration with education authorities, security agencies, and other stakeholders was instrumental in the exercise’s general success.
The 2025 WASSCE also saw the inclusion of 12,178 candidates with special needs — including visually and hearing-impaired students — who received appropriate support to ensure fair participation.
Of the total candidates, 1,517,517 (77.06%) have had their full results released, while 451,796 (22.94%) still have one or more subjects pending due to investigations into alleged malpractice.
WAEC disclosed that 192,089 candidates (9.75%) are under scrutiny for examination misconduct, showing a slight decline from the 11.92% recorded in 2024. The Council noted ongoing concerns about mobile phone use during exams and the activities of organised cheating syndicates.
Looking ahead, WAEC reaffirmed its commitment to adopting a fully computer-based WASSCE for school candidates by 2026. A pilot version of this system will be launched for private candidates in 2025.
The Council encouraged candidates to utilise its digital certificate platform, which allows candidates to access their certificates within 48 hours of result release. WAEC also appealed to indebted state governments to settle outstanding payments, noting that affected candidates from those states may be unable to access their results until debts are cleared.
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