The West African Examinations Council (WAEC), Nigeria, has issued an unreserved apology to candidates, parents, and stakeholders following the discovery of a grading error that significantly distorted the performance statistics of the 2025 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for school candidates.
Head of WAEC Nigeria, Dr. Amos Dangut, speaking at a press briefing on Friday at the council’s national office in Yaba, Lagos, described the situation as “very embarrassing” and expressed deep regret on behalf of the Registrar, Management, and Staff.
“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.
The Error and Its Cause
According to Dangut, the grading discrepancies stemmed from a wrongly assigned serialised code file used during the printing of the English Language Objective Test (Paper 3), which led to the use of incorrect answer keys. This followed the implementation of a new security innovation called paper serialisation, already in use by another national examination body.
The error affected serialised subjects, including Mathematics, Biology, and Economics, although only the English Language paper was marked incorrectly. Dangut clarified that candidates who sat for the examination using the computer-based mode were not affected.
“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,” he explained.
Revised Performance Statistics
With the correction, 1,794,821 candidates (91.14 per cent) obtained credit and above in at least five subjects (with or without English and Mathematics). Out of these, 1,239,884 candidates (62.96 per cent) secured five credits, including English and Mathematics, an improvement from the previously reported 38.32 per cent.
Of the candidates who achieved this feat, 657,819 (53.05 per cent) were female, while 582,065 (46.95 per cent) were male. Despite the improvement, the figure is still 9.16 per cent lower than the 72.12 per cent recorded in 2024.
A total of 1,969,313 candidates sat for the examination, including those from schools in Benin Republic, Côte d’Ivoire, and Equatorial Guinea that operate the Nigerian curriculum. WAEC also catered for 12,178 special needs candidates, such as the visually impaired (112), hearing impaired (615), physically challenged (37), and spastic/mentally challenged (52).
“All these candidates were adequately provided for in the administration of the examination,” Dangut noted.
Pending and Withheld Results
WAEC disclosed that 1,763,470 candidates (89.55 per cent) have had their results fully processed, while 205,916 candidates (10.45 per cent) still have one or more subjects pending due to technical issues. Efforts are ongoing to conclude processing and release the outstanding results.
Results of 191,053 candidates (9.7 per cent) are being withheld over alleged examination malpractice, a decline from the 11.92 per cent recorded in 2024.
Dangut urged collective action against malpractice. “WAEC will continue to sanction all cases of examination malpractice. All hands must be on deck to sanitise the system,” he stressed.
Accessing Results and Certificates
Candidates can check their results at www.waecdirect.org and apply for their digital certificates, which will be available within 48 hours after result verification. Hard copy certificates will be ready within 90 days. However, candidates from indebted state governments will not be able to access their results until outstanding payments are settled.
“We appeal to the concerned authorities to do the needful to enable affected schools and candidates to access their results,” Dangut appealed.
A Public Pledge
WAEC acknowledged the emotional strain caused by the incident and pledged measures to prevent a recurrence.
“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,” Dangut assured.
The council also expressed gratitude to the Federal Government, the Minister of Education, and state education bodies for their support during the review process.