WAEC Withholds 167,486 WASSCE Results Over Examination

The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has withheld the results of 167,486 candidates, representing 8.59 percent of those who sat for the 2026 computer-based West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) over alleged examination malpractices.

The figure marks a decline from the 9.7 percent recorded in the 2025 examination.

Head of the WAEC National Office, Amos Dangut, disclosed this on Wednesday, while announcing the release of the 2026 WASSCE results in Lagos.

According to him, the affected results were withheld over various forms of examination malpractices, including the persistent use of mobile phones in examination halls despite an existing ban, as well as organised cheating involving some schools.

Dangut also revealed that a number of supervisors and invigilators caught aiding candidates in examination malpractice have been arrested and would face disciplinary measures through the relevant state ministries of education.

“The increasing use of cell phones in the examination hall, in spite of the existing ban, and organised cheating in some schools, are other nagging issues,” Dangut said.

Giving a breakdown of candidates’ performance, the WAEC boss disclosed that 1,959,668 candidates from 24,207 schools from across Nigeria, the Republic of Benin, Côte d’Ivoire and Equatorial Guinea registered for the examination, while 1,950,726 candidates eventually sat for the exercise.

He said 1,200,514 candidates, representing 61.54 percent, obtained credits in at least five subjects, including English Language and mathematics.

According to him, 1,687,378 candidates, representing 86.50 percent, obtained credits in at least five subjects, irrespective of English Language and mathematics.

Dangut, however, noted that the percentage of candidates who obtained five credits, including English and mathematics, declined by 1.42 percentage points compared to the 2025 examination.

He added that of the candidates who attained the benchmark, 558,883 were male, representing 28.65 percent, while 641,631, representing 32.89 percent were female.

Overall, 997,267 females (51.12 percent) and 953,459 males (48.88 percent) participated in the examination.

The WAEC National Office head further disclosed that 1,834,695 candidates, representing 94.05 percent, had their results fully processed and released, while the results of 116,031 candidates (5.95 percent) were still being processed.

He also revealed that 1,213 candidates with special needs participated in the examination, including 137 visually impaired candidates, 491 candidates with hearing impairment, 55 spastic and mentally challenged candidates, and 41 physically challenged candidates.

Dangut said the 2026 examination, which was the second edition of the Computer-Based WASSCE, introduced several innovations aimed at improving examination integrity and efficiency.

These included the digital examiner mark system to speed up result processing, the serialisation of question papers to curb malpractice, and a new online portal that enables candidates to generate their e-PINs for checking results.

He said the examination was conducted between April 24 and June 19, 2026, with 102,708 examiners participating in the marking exercise across 88 marking centres.

Dangut, who described the media briefing as his third and final engagement as head of the WAEC National Office, also disclosed that candidates sponsored by state governments indebted to the council would not have their results released until the outstanding payments were settled.