The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has announced a sharp drop in the performance of students who sat for the 2025 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for school candidates.
Out of 1,969,313 students who took the exam in 23,554 schools, only 38.32 per cent (754,545 candidates) passed with at least five credits, including English Language and Mathematics. This is a major decline from the 72.12 per cent recorded in 2024, a 33.8 per cent drop.
Dr. Amos Dangut, WAEC’s Head of National Office in Nigeria, announced the results at a press briefing in Lagos on Monday, August 4, 2025. He explained that the drop was partly due to the new serialization method used in objective test papers for key subjects like English, Mathematics, Biology, and Economics.
“This approach drastically reduced the incidence of collusion and made examination malpractice more difficult. We observed a dip in the performance of objective papers, but essay papers remained consistent with previous years. It’s a strong signal that candidates must rely on their own preparation,” Dr. Dangut said.
The examination ran from April 24 to June 20, 2025, and WAEC used a real-time digital scoring system to speed up result processing. So far, 77.06 per cent of results have been released, while 22.94 per cent are still being processed due to technical problems. WAEC promised to resolve the issues soon.
Also, 192,089 results, about 9.75 per cent, are being withheld for examination malpractice, including the use of banned mobile phones and cheating. This is slightly better than the 11.92 per cent withheld in 2024.
“These unscrupulous elements have become a thorn in the Council’s flesh. Some even use our name to distribute fake messages. We’ve apprehended some of them, and appropriate sanctions will be applied,” Dangut warned.
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WAEC also revealed that states owing the Council will not be able to access the results of their sponsored candidates until they clear their debts.
This year, 12,178 candidates with special needs registered for the exam. WAEC said it gave them full support. These included 112 visually impaired, 615 with hearing difficulties, 52 mentally challenged, and 37 with physical disabilities.
The gender distribution showed that 49.60% (976,787) of the candidates were male and 50.40% (992,526) were female. Among the 754,545 candidates who passed, females performed better, making up 53.99 per cent (407,353), while males were 46.01 per cent (347,192).
WAEC also said this year marked a big step toward digital exams, as candidates were allowed to choose between the traditional paper-and-pencil method and a computer-based test (CBT).
“This year’s exam placed us as a foremost examining body to have conducted an achievement test using a computer-based format,” Dangut added.
WAEC plans to move fully to digital exams by 2026.