The West African Examinations Council (WAEC), Nigeria, has released revised results for the 2025 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for school candidates, after uncovering grading discrepancies that significantly distorted earlier performance statistics.
At a press briefing in Lagos, WAEC Nigeria’s Head, Dr. Amos Dangut, acknowledged that an error in the marking of serialised examination papers had misrepresented candidates’ performance. He described the development as “very embarrassing” and offered an unreserved apology on behalf of the Council’s leadership and staff.
The error was traced to a new security measure, paper serialisation, which WAEC adopted from another national examination body. During post-examination reviews, officials discovered that the English Language Objective Test was graded using incorrect answer keys because the wrong serialised code file had been assigned during printing. This affected only candidates who took the paper-based test, while those in the computer-based mode were unaffected. Other serialised subjects in the examination included Mathematics, Biology, and Economics, but the error was confined to the English Language paper.
Following the correction, the performance rate rose sharply. WAEC reported that 91.14 per cent of candidates obtained credits and above in at least five subjects, with or without English and Mathematics. In the key benchmark category of five credits including English and Mathematics, the pass rate improved to 62.96 per cent from the earlier reported 38.32 per cent. This represents a drop from the 72.12 per cent recorded in 2024 but remains a significant improvement from the initially announced figures.
Out of 1,969,313 candidates who sat for the examination, including those from schools in Benin Republic, Côte d’Ivoire, and Equatorial Guinea following the Nigerian curriculum, 12,178 were special needs candidates. WAEC said all were adequately catered for, with their results fully processed and released.
Currently, 89.55 per cent of candidates have had their results processed, while 10.45 per cent still have one or more subjects pending due to technical issues, which the Council is working to resolve. Results for 9.7 per cent of candidates have been withheld over suspected examination malpractice, a lower figure than in 2024. Investigations are ongoing, and candidates can file complaints online.
WAEC has urged candidates to check their results via its official portal and apply for digital certificates, available within 48 hours of verification, while printed certificates will be ready within 90 days. However, results for candidates sponsored by indebted state governments remain inaccessible until payments are made, with the Council appealing to the concerned authorities to act swiftly.
Dangut apologised to all stakeholders, acknowledging the distress the situation caused for students, parents, teachers, school administrators, and education authorities. He assured the public that measures are being put in place to prevent such an incident from recurring and expressed gratitude to the Federal Government, the Minister of Education, and state education bodies for their support in resolving the matter.
