…as WAEC withheld results of 192,089 WASSCE candidates.
LAGOS, NIGERIA – The iNews Times | The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has released the results of the May/June 2025 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) with a troubling statistic–only 38.32% of the 1,973,365 candidates who sat for the examination secured five credits, including English Language and Mathematics.
The implication is stark: 1,218,820 candidates failed to meet the basic benchmark required for admission into Nigerian tertiary institutions, raising serious questions about the state of secondary education.
Announcing the results on Monday in Lagos, WAEC’s Head of National Office (HNO), Dr Amos Dangut, noted that only 754,545 candidates met the key requirement for university and polytechnic admission–five credits including both English and Mathematics.
According to Dr Dangut, 1,969,313 candidates eventually sat for the examination. Of this number, 1,718,090 candidates, representing 87.24%, obtained credits in at least five subjects, but not necessarily including English and/or Mathematics.
Breaking down the numbers by gender, he said 407,353 candidates (53.99%) were female, while 347,192 (46.01%) were male.
A historical comparison of results shows a sharp drop. “In 2024, 72.12% of candidates passed with at least five credits, including English Language and Mathematics. In 2025, that figure dropped to 38.32% – a 33.8% decrease in performance,” Dangut revealed.
WAEC also recorded participation from 12,178 special needs candidates, including 615 with hearing impairments, 52 with mental disabilities, and 37 with physical challenges. Their results were processed and released along with those of other candidates.
However, not all results were released. WAEC withheld the results of 192,089 candidates, representing 9.75% of the total, due to allegations of examination malpractice. This is slightly lower than the 11.92% withheld in 2024.
“The increasing use of mobile phones in exam halls, despite a clear ban and coordinated cheating in some schools remain troubling,” Dangut stated. He said all cases are under investigation and would be reviewed by the Council’s disciplinary committee.
He urged affected candidates to seek redress if they believe they were wrongly implicated.
Dr Dangut affirmed WAEC’s commitment to upholding exam integrity: “Schools, supervisors, teachers, and candidates involved in malpractice are sabotaging our educational system and will continue to face stiff sanctions.”
He added that candidates who have fulfilled their financial obligations can check their results via www.waecdirect.org, and those seeking digital certificates can expect them 48 hours after result confirmation.
The exam scripts were marked between July 3 and July 21, with 87,499 examiners and 2,706 e-examiners involved in the process.
The 2025 WASSCE was also conducted in affiliated Nigerian-curriculum schools in Benin Republic, Côte d’Ivoire, and Equatorial Guinea.
