The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has released the results of the 2025 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for school candidates, revealing a sharp decline in performance in key subjects.
Speaking at a press briefing in Lagos on Monday, the Head of WAEC’s Nigeria National Office, Dr Amos Dangut, disclosed that only 38.32 per cent of candidates who sat the examination obtained five credits including English Language and Mathematics. This represents a significant drop from the 72.12 per cent recorded in 2024.
A total of 1,969,313 candidates sat the examination conducted between April 24 and June 20 across 23,554 recognised secondary schools in Nigeria. The exam was also administered in WAEC-accredited institutions in Benin Republic, Côte d’Ivoire and Equatorial Guinea that operate the Nigerian curriculum. This figure accounts for 99.79 per cent of the 1,973,365 registered candidates.
While 1,718,090 candidates, representing 87.24 per cent, obtained credit and above in five subjects or more, only 754,545 candidates met the key benchmark of five credits including English and Mathematics.
“This represents a 33.8 percentage point decline compared to last year’s results. It is a significant shift and one that reflects the Council’s renewed emphasis on exam integrity,” Dr Dangut said.
He attributed the decline in performance to WAEC’s revised strategy of serialising objective test papers in core subjects such as English Language, Mathematics, Biology and Economics. He noted that the change was introduced to reduce collusion and other forms of examination malpractice.
WAEC further revealed that 1,517,517 candidates, representing 77.06 per cent, have had their results fully processed and released. However, 451,796 candidates, accounting for 22.94 per cent, still have one or more subjects pending due to technical and administrative issues. The Council assured that these issues are being addressed and the outstanding results will be released in due course.
In terms of gender distribution, 992,526 candidates (50.40 per cent) were female, while 976,787 (49.60 per cent) were male.
A total of 12,178 candidates with special needs were registered and provided with necessary support during the examination. These included 112 visually impaired, 615 with hearing difficulties, 52 with mental health conditions and 37 physically challenged candidates. WAEC confirmed that all their results have been processed and released.
Dr Dangut reaffirmed the Council’s commitment to raising academic standards and enhancing transparency in the conduct of its examinations. He added that the deployment of digital innovations and stricter anti-malpractice measures will continue in future editions.
Candidates have been advised to check their results by visiting the WAEC result portal at [www.waecdirect.org].
