The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has released the 2026 Computer-Based West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) results.
The examination body explained that with the results, 1,200,514 candidates scored at least five credits, including English Language and Mathematics.
WAEC said the 1,200,514 successful candidates represent 61.54 per cent of those who sat the examination. The figure marks a 1.42 per cent drop from the 2025 WASSCE results.
Speaking during the official release of the results in Lagos on Wednesday, the Head of the WAEC National Office, Dr Amos Josiah Dangut, said 1,959,668 candidates from 24,207 schools registered for the examination across Nigeria, the Benin Republic, Côte d’Ivoire and Equatorial Guinea.
It added that 1,950,726 candidates sat the examination, saying that 1,687,378 candidates, representing 86.50 per cent, earned at least five credits with or without English Language and Mathematics.
Among the 1,200,514 candidates 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.
WAEC said 953,459 males, representing 48.88 per cent, and 997,267 females, representing 51.12 per cent, wrote the examination.
The council added that it has fully processed and released the results of 1,834,695 candidates, representing 94.05 per cent.
It is still processing the results of 116,031 candidates, representing 5.95 per cent.
WAEC also said 1,213 candidates with special needs registered for the examination. They include 137 visually impaired candidates, 491 with hearing impairment, 55 spastic and mentally challenged candidates, and 41 physically challenged candidates.
WAEC withheld the results of 167,486 candidates, representing 8.59 per cent, over various examination malpractice cases.
The figure is lower than the 9.7 per cent recorded in 2025.
“The increasing use of cell phones in the examination hall, in spite of the existing ban, and organized cheating in some schools, are other nagging issues,” Dr Dangut said.
He added that authorities arrested some supervisors and invigilators for helping candidates cheat. They will face sanctions through the State Ministries of Education.
Dr Dangut said this was his third and final media briefing as Head of the WAEC National Office.
He noted that the 2026 examination was the second Computer-Based WASSCE for school candidates.
He added that WAEC introduced new measures to strengthen the examination process.
These include the Digital Examiner Mark System (DEMS) for faster marking, serialised question papers to reduce malpractice, and a new portal that allows candidates to generate e-PINs directly to check their results.
External Links
WAEC Nigeria – https://www.waecnigeria.org/
Federal Ministry of Education – https://education.gov.ng/
WAEC International – https://www.waecinternational.org/
