The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has released the results of the 2026 Computer-Based West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for school candidates.
The examination body announced on Wednesday that 1,200,514 candidates, representing 61.54 per cent, obtained credits in at least five subjects, including English Language and Mathematics.
Speaking during the official release of the results in Lagos, the Head of the WAEC National Office, Dr. Amos Josiah Dangut, said the performance represents a 1.42 per cent decline compared to the 2025 examination.
According to WAEC, 1,959,668 candidates from 24,207 schools registered for the examination, which was conducted across Nigeria, the Benin Republic, Côte d’Ivoire, and Equatorial Guinea.
Out of the registered candidates, 1,950,726 sat for the examination.
The council disclosed that 1,687,378 candidates (86.50 per cent) obtained credits in at least five subjects, with or without English Language and Mathematics.
Among the 1,200,514 candidates who secured five credits, including English and Mathematics, 558,883 (28.65%) were male, while 641,631 (32.89%) were female.
WAEC also revealed that 953,459 males (48.88%) and 997,267 females (51.12%) participated in the examination.
Regarding result processing, the council stated that 1,834,695 candidates (94.05%) have had their results fully processed and released, while the results of 116,031 candidates (5.95%) are still being processed.
The examination body further disclosed that 1,213 candidates with special needs registered for the examination, including 137 visually impaired candidates, 491 hearing-impaired candidates, 55 spastic and mentally challenged candidates, and 41 physically challenged candidates.
On examination malpractice, WAEC said it withheld the results of 167,486 candidates, representing 8.59 per cent, over various examination offences. The figure is lower than the 9.7 per cent recorded in 2025.
“The increasing use of cell phones in the examination hall, in spite of the existing ban, and organized cheating in some schools, are other nagging issues,” Dr. Dangut said.
He added that some supervisors and invigilators caught aiding candidates in malpractice had been arrested and would face disciplinary action through their respective State Ministries of Education.
Dr. Dangut, who noted that this was his third and final media briefing as Head of the WAEC National Office, said the 2026 examination was the second Computer-Based WASSCE conducted for school candidates.
He explained that WAEC introduced additional measures to strengthen the examination process, including the Digital Examiner Mark System (DEMS) for faster marking, serialised question papers to curb malpractice, and a new portal that enables candidates to generate e-PINs directly to check their results…..See More