The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has released the 2026 Computer-based West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) results for school candidates.

The examination body announced on Wednesday that 1,200,514 candidates, representing 61.54 per cent, obtained credits in at least five subjects, including English Language and Mathematics.

Speaking at the official release of the results in Lagos, the Head of the WAEC National Office, Dr Amos Josiah Dangut, said the performance represents a 1.42 per cent drop compared to the 2025 examination.

According to WAEC, 1,959,668 candidates from 24,207 schools registered for the examination held across Nigeria, the Benin Republic, Côte d’Ivoire and Equatorial Guinea.

Out of the registered candidates, 1,950,726 sat for the examination.

The council said 1,687,378 candidates, representing 86.50 per cent, obtained credits in at least five subjects, with or without English Language and Mathematics.

Among the 1,200,514 candidates who obtained five credits, including English and Mathematics, 558,883 (28.65 per cent) were male, while 641,631 (32.89 per cent) were female.

WAEC also disclosed that 953,459 males, representing 48.88 per cent, and 997,267 females, representing 51.12 per cent, sat the examination.

On result processing, the council said 1,834,695 candidates, representing 94.05 per cent, have had their results fully processed and released.

It added that the results of 116,031 candidates, representing 5.95 per cent, are still being processed.

The examination body also said 1,213 candidates with special needs registered for the examination. They include 137 visually impaired candidates, 491 with hearing impairment, 55 spastic and mentally challenged candidates, and 41 physically challenged candidates.

On examination malpractice, WAEC said it withheld the results of 167,486 candidates, representing 8.59 per cent, over various offences. The figure is lower than the 9.7 per cent recorded in 2025.

“The increasing use of cell phones in the examination hall, in spite of the existing ban, and organized cheating in some schools, are other nagging issues,” Dr Dangut said.

He added that some supervisors and invigilators caught helping candidates cheat had been arrested and would face sanctions through the State Ministries of Education.

Dr Dangut, who said this was his third and final media briefing as Head of the WAEC National Office, noted that the 2026 examination was the second Computer-Based WASSCE conducted for school candidates.

He said WAEC introduced more measures to improve the examination process, including the Digital Examiner Mark System (DEMS) for faster marking, serialised question papers to reduce malpractice, and a new portal that allows candidates to generate e-PINs directly to check their results. (Nigerian Tribune)