The National Examinations Council (NECO) has released the results of the 2026 Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) Internal, with 804,948 candidates, representing 58.67 per cent of those who sat the examination, obtaining at least five credits including English Language and Mathematics.
The Registrar and Chief Executive of NECO, Professor Dantani Wushishi, announced the results on Thursday at the council’s headquarters in Minna, Niger State, 63 days after the last paper of the examination was written.
Wushishi said 1,378,048 candidates registered for the 2026 examination, comprising 682,352 males and 695,696 females, while 1,371,992 candidates eventually sat for the examination.
He disclosed that 1,162,118 candidates, representing 84.70 per cent of those who sat the examination, obtained five credits and above irrespective of their performance in English Language and Mathematics.
The examination was conducted from June 15 to July 23, 2026, across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, as well as in six foreign countries—Benin Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Niger Republic, Côte d’Ivoire, Togo and Saudi Arabia.
The release followed the completion of the marking, verification and quality assurance processes. The nationwide marking exercise was conducted between August 17 and September 4.
Wushishi described the 2026 examination cycle as a challenging one for the council, but said NECO remained committed to ensuring that certificates issued to candidates reflected their actual academic performance.
The council also reported a sharp decline in examination malpractice. A total of 1,406 candidates were booked for various forms of malpractice in 2026, compared with 3,878 candidates recorded in 2025, representing a 64.74 per cent reduction.
The NECO registrar attributed the decline to the council’s strengthened examination security and quality assurance measures, including the deployment of computer-based testing for the examination.
He said the council would continue to strengthen measures aimed at protecting the credibility of its examinations and curbing impersonation, manipulation and other forms of malpractice.
A total of 1,334 candidates with special needs also participated in the 2026 SSCE Internal. NECO said the candidates included those with hearing and visual impairments, albinism, autism, low vision and adermatoglyphia.
The release brings to an end the waiting period for candidates who completed the examination in July and have been awaiting their results for admission and other academic purposes.
Candidates can check their results through the official NECO results portal by selecting the examination year and type, then entering their result-checking token and registration number.
The results are expected to be particularly significant for candidates seeking admission into universities, polytechnics, colleges of education and other tertiary institutions, many of which require O’level results as part of their admission processes.
Wushishi thanked the Federal Government and other stakeholders for their support during the examination, particularly security agencies including the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and the Department of State Services.
He assured candidates, schools and other stakeholders that NECO would continue to uphold the integrity and credibility of its examinations.
