LAGOS – The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has published the results of the 2026 Computer-Based West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), with more than 1.2 million candidates achieving five credits including English Language and Mathematics.
Announcing the results in Lagos on Wednesday, WAEC’s Nigeria National Office Head, Dr Amos Josiah Dangut, confirmed that 1,200,514 candidates – representing 61.54 per cent of the 1,950,726 who sat the examination – met the benchmark.
This figure marks a 1.42 percentage point decline compared to the 2025 performance.
A total of 1,959,668 candidates from 24,207 schools across Nigeria, the Benin Republic, Côte d’Ivoire and Equatorial Guinea registered for the examination, with 1,950,726 ultimately sitting the tests.
The examination body further disclosed that 1,687,378 candidates, representing 86.50 per cent, obtained credits and above in at least five subjects, with or without English Language and Mathematics.
Of those who secured five credits including English and Mathematics, 558,883 (28.65 per cent) were male, while 641,631 (32.89 per cent) were female. Overall participation saw 953,459 males and 997,267 females sitting the examination.
Dr Dangut stated that 1,834,695 candidates, representing 94.05 per cent, have had their results fully processed and released, whilst the results of 116,031 candidates (5.95 per cent) remain under processing.
Special Needs Candidates and Malpractice Concerns
The examination council revealed that 1,213 candidates with special needs registered for the examination, including 137 visually impaired candidates, 491 with hearing impairment, 55 with spastic or mental challenges, and 41 physically challenged candidates.
On the issue of examination malpractice, WAEC withheld the results of 167,486 candidates – 8.59 per cent of those who sat the examination – over alleged involvement in various forms of misconduct.
The council noted this represents a 1.11 percentage-point decline from the 9.70 per cent recorded in 2025.
Dr Dangut attributed many malpractice cases to the persistent use of mobile phones in examination halls despite existing bans, alongside organised cheating in some schools.
Supervisors and invigilators found to be aiding malpractice have been identified and will face disciplinary action through the relevant State Ministries of Education.
Technological Innovations Introduced
The WAEC boss highlighted that the 2026 diet marked the second Computer-Based WASSCE for school candidates, featuring innovations including the Digital Examiner Marking System (DEMS), serialisation of question papers to curb malpractice, and a new online platform allowing candidates to generate e-PINs for result checking.
Candidates can now check their results online within 12 hours through the WAEC result-checking portal, with digital certificates available for application 48 hours after results are accessed.
Hard copies of certificates are expected to be ready within 90 days.
Dr Dangut also disclosed that results of candidates sponsored by state governments indebted to WAEC will remain withheld until outstanding payments are settled.
