Following the discovery of grading inconsistencies that substantially impacted candidates’ performance statistics, the West African Examinations Council (WAEC Nigeria), has released the reviewed results for the 2025 West African Senior School Certificate Examination for school candidates.
The Head of WAEC Nigeria, Dr. Amos Dangut, acknowledged a significant mistake in marking serialised papers that misrepresented candidates’ performance during a press briefing on Friday at the council’s national office in Yaba, Lagos.
The examination body noted that 1,763,470 candidates (89.55 per cent) have had their results fully processed, while 205,916 (10.45 per cent) candidates still have one or more subjects pending because of technical difficulties.
After the error was fixed, 1,794,821 applicants, or 91.14 per cent, received credit or higher in at least five subjects (with or without math and English).
Interestingly, 1,239,884 applicants, or 62.96 per cent, earned five credits, including math and English. This is a notable improvement over the previously stated 38.32 per cent.
Of these, 582,065 (46.95 per cent) were male candidates and 657,819 (53.05 per cent) were female candidates.
This still represents a 9.16 per cent decline from the performance of 72.12 per cent in 2024, though.
According to WAEC, 1,969,313 candidates took the test, including students from Equatorial Guinea, Côte d’Ivoire, and the Benin Republic schools that use the Nigerian curriculum.
Additionally, the council served 12,178 candidates with special needs, including those who were physically challenged (37), hearing impaired (615), visually impaired (112), and spastic/mentally challenged (52). The results for these candidates have also been processed and made public.
“All these candidates were adequately provided for in the administration of the examination,” said Dangut.
Outstanding results to be released soon
WAEC assured everyone that work is being done to finish processing and will soon release the outstanding results.
The results of 191,053 candidates (9.7 per cent) have been withheld due to claims of exam malpractice.
This is less than the 11.92 per cent that was noted in 2024.
Affected candidates may file a complaint at waecinternational.org/complaints while investigations are still underway.
“WAEC will continue to sanction all cases of examination malpractice. All hands must be on deck to sanitise the system,” Dangut emphasised.
WAEC apologises
“With deep sorrow and regret, I, on behalf of the Registrar to Council, Management and Staff of WAEC Nigeria, apologise for the discrepancies discovered in the grading of serialised papers.”
“This is very difficult for us to say, but we have to admit that it is very embarrassing,” Dangut said.
He claimed that the council had adopted paper serialisation, a new security innovation that is already being used by another national examination body.
However, during post-examination reviews, it was found that a serialised code file that was incorrectly assigned resulted in the English Language Objective Test (Paper 3) being scored using the wrong keys.
Economics, biology, and mathematics were among the other serialised subjects.
“We investigated and discovered that a serialised code file was wrongly used in the printing of the English Language Objective paper.”
“This resulted in them being marked with incorrect answer keys. It is important to note that candidates who wrote the exams using the computer-based mode were not affected,” Dangut explained.
Digital WAEC certificates to be ready in 48 hours
WAEC urged candidates to apply for their digital certificates, which will be accessible 48 hours after the result verification, and view their results through the official website, www.waecdirect.org. Hard copy certificates will be available in ninety days.
Dangut reminded everyone that candidates supported by indebted state governments will not be able to view their results until the council is paid.
“We appeal to the concerned authorities to do what is necessary to enable affected schools and candidates to access their results,” he urged.
Dangut apologised to all parties involved without reservation.
“We acknowledge the emotional ordeal that candidates, parents, teachers, school administrators, Ministries of Education, and the media must have endured.”
“This is a trying time for us at WAEC. We are doing everything we can to ensure this dismal situation does not recur,” he said.
Additionally, WAEC expressed gratitude to the Federal Government, the Education Minister, and state education authorities for their assistance throughout the review and resolution process.