The West African Examinations Council has reiterated its intention to switch to a Computer-Based Testing (CBT) format for the West African Senior School Certificate Examination by 2026, instead of the traditional Paper-and-Pencil Test (PPT).
Dr. Amos Dangut, head of WAEC’s national office, assured on Tuesday at a sensitisation meeting with members of the National Assembly Committee on Education in Abuja.
Before the deadline next year, he said, the shift, which started with private candidates in 2024, has already made “significant progress” and will be expanded nationally.
“We have conducted five exams already, one for private candidates and one for school candidates, and by 2026, deployment will be massive,” he said.
Concerns over cyber and infrastructure risks
Regarding worries about cyber and infrastructure threats, Dangut reassured stakeholders that WAEC had successfully and uninterruptedly conducted tests in remote locations.
He clarified that compared to paper-based tests, candidates’ performance on CBT had been “empirically better.”
The examination body decided to conduct the Senior School Certificate Examination for private candidates using the CBT model instead of the paper-and-pencil test (PPT) model in 2024.
WAEC aims to expand on the prior implementation to incorporate general school candidates.
WASSCE to be conducted at CBT centres
Additionally, the Federal Government announced on July 22, 2025, that by the following year, all publicly-owned and privately-owned computer-based testing centres would be fully utilised for administering the Senior School Certificate Examination in schools.
Regarding the issues, Education Minister Dr. Tunji Alausa stated, “WAEC and NECO exams are school-based exams being conducted at their schools. No, we will move away from that.
“It will be like (the way) JAMB exams are being conducted at CBT centres. We have thousands of CBT centres across the nation.
“Those are the centres that we are going to use. It’s not the case that students do not have the facilities. Schools do not have the facilities.”
Key points to note
On August 30, the examination body held a meeting with the School’s representative and the following resolutions were made:
1. 2026 WASSCE will be fully computer-based with no option.
2. All students must register in school, but WAEC will assign them to centres.
3. Schools ready to be used as WAEC/CBT centres should notify them immediately.
4. The objective examinations will be fully computer-based, and three subjects will be written in one day.
5. Essay/Theory exam questions will be completed and projected in the school halls. No question papers will be given, but answer scripts.
6. Practical examinations will be centre-based, and the teacher guiding the children must be IT-savvy.
7. Schools must supply practical materials to their students in their assigned centres.
8. WAEC will pay for the schools that meet the requirements for being used as exam centres.
9. Schools with 50 computers can be considered for a CBT centre, provided they can accommodate other schools.