The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has reported a steep drop in performance among candidates who sat for the 2025 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), with only 38.32 per cent securing five credits including English and Mathematics — a major decline from 72.12 per cent recorded in 2024.
A total of 1,969,313 students from 23,554 schools across Nigeria sat for the examination, but only 754,545 met the benchmark for tertiary admission.
Addressing journalists at WAEC’s Yaba headquarters on Monday, the Head of the Nigeria National Office, Dr Amos Dangut, attributed the performance slump to the Council’s new exam integrity measures — particularly the serialisation of objective test papers in core subjects such as English, Mathematics, Biology, and Economics.
“This method drastically curtailed collusion and forced students to rely more on personal effort,” Dangut explained. “We noticed a significant drop in objective scores, while essay performance remained stable.”
The 2025 WASSCE, conducted from April 24 to June 20, also introduced a computer-based testing (CBT) option, which Dangut described as a step toward full digitisation of the exam by 2026. Candidates could choose between the CBT and the traditional paper-and-pencil format.
WAEC said 1,517,517 results (77.06%) have been fully processed and released, while 22.94% (451,796) remain pending due to technical issues expected to be resolved shortly.
On exam malpractice, 9.75% (192,089) of results are being withheld for offenses ranging from collusion to the use of mobile phones — a slight improvement from 11.92% in 2024. Dangut noted that perpetrators, including those using WAEC’s name to spread false messages, are facing sanctions.
The Council also warned state governments owing examination fees that results of their sponsored candidates would not be accessible until debts are cleared.
Among the registered candidates, 12,178 were special needs students, including the visually and hearing impaired. WAEC confirmed that appropriate support was provided for their participation.
In terms of gender performance, females outperformed males: of the 754,545 candidates who passed with five credits including English and Maths, 53.99% were female (407,353), while 46.01% (347,192) were male.
Candidates can access their results via www.waecdirect.org.
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