...9.75% results withheld over malpractice, others over unpaid fees
1,973,365 candidates, according to the agency, registered for the 2025 WASSCE from 23,554 recognised secondary schools across Nigeria, while a total of 1,969,313 candidates eventually sat for the examination.
By Deborah Hassan
365Daily – The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) on Monday released the results of the 2025 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), announcing that results of some candidates have been withheld due to non-payment of registration fees and exam malpractice.
Announcing the release at a press briefing in Lagos, Mr Amos Dangut, Head of the Nigeria National Office of WAEC, said candidates sponsored by state governments that are yet to offset their financial obligations would be unable to access their results until full payments are made.
“We appeal to the affected state governments to settle their outstanding debts so that their candidates will not be denied access to their academic records,” he said.
He also disclosed that 192,089 candidates, representing 9.75 per cent of the total 1,969,313 candidates who sat the exam, had their results withheld over allegations of malpractice.
“This figure represents a decline from the 11.92 per cent recorded in 2024. But despite the improvement, WAEC expresses serious concern over the persistent use of mobile phones in examination halls and the growing instances of organised cheating in some schools,” he said.
Investigations into these cases, he said, are ongoing and final decisions would be taken by the appropriate committee of the council. “Affected candidates will be notified through their respective schools once the committee concludes its review,” Dangut added.
He encouraged dissatisfied candidates to lodge their complaints online at https://waecinternational.org/complaints.
WAEC also reported a worrying 33.8 per cent drop in candidates’ performance compared to the 2024 results. Dangut said only 754,545 candidates, representing 38.32 per cent, obtained credits and above in a minimum of five subjects, including English Language and Mathematics.
Of this number, 347,192 (46.01 per cent) were males, while 407,353 (53.99 per cent) were females.
“In 2024, the percentage of candidates in this category was significantly higher,” Dangut noted. “This year’s result reflects a 33.8 percent decrease in performance.”
However, he stated that 1,718,090 candidates, representing 87.24 per cent, obtained credit and above in a minimum of any five subjects
WAEC added that while 1,517,517 candidates (77.06 per cent) had their results fully processed and released, results for 451,796 candidates (22.94 per cent) were still being processed due to issues yet to be resolved.
“Efforts are, however, being made to speedily complete the processes to enhance the release of the affected candidates’ results within a couple of days,” the WAEC boss assured.
Dangut announced that the released results are currently being uploaded to the council’s results portal www.waecdirect.org and will be accessible within 12 hours. Candidates are expected to use the PIN and serial number on their WAEC smart identity cards to check their results.
He also encouraged candidates to apply for their digital certificates, which would be available 48 hours after accessing results online. “Hard copy certificates will be ready within 90 days from the date of this announcement,” he added.
1,973,365 candidates, according to the agency, registered for the 2025 WASSCE from 23,554 recognised secondary schools across Nigeria, while a total of 1,969,313 candidates eventually sat for the examination.
The exam was also conducted for students in select schools in the Benin Republic, Côte d’Ivoire and Equatorial Guinea that use the Nigerian senior secondary school curriculum.
WAEC also catered to 12,178 candidates with special needs, including 112 visually challenged, 615 with impaired hearing, 52 spastic/mentally challenged, and 37 physically challenged.
“All these candidates were adequately provided for, and their results have been processed and released along with those of other candidates,” Dangut said.
Of the total number of candidates, 976,787 were male and 992,526 were female, representing 49.60 per cent and 50.40 per cent, respectively.