The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has withheld the results of 167,486 candidates who sat for the 2026 Computer-Based West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for School Candidates over alleged examination malpractice.
The affected candidates account for 8.59 per cent of the 1,950,726 candidates who participated in the examination, a slight improvement from the 9.7 per cent malpractice rate recorded in 2025.
Announcing the release of the results in Lagos on Wednesday, the Head of WAEC Nigeria National Office, Dr. Amos Dangut, attributed the withheld results to various forms of examination malpractice, including the persistent use of mobile phones in examination halls and organised cheating in some schools.
Dangut also disclosed that some supervisors and invigilators caught aiding candidates in malpractice had been arrested and would face disciplinary action through the appropriate state ministries of education.
According to WAEC, 1,959,668 candidates from 24,207 schools across Nigeria, Benin Republic, Côte d’Ivoire and Equatorial Guinea registered for the examination, while 1,950,726 eventually sat for the test.
The council revealed that 1,200,514 candidates, representing 61.54 per cent, obtained credits in at least five subjects, including English Language and Mathematics. Meanwhile, 1,687,378 candidates, or 86.50 per cent, earned credits in a minimum of five subjects regardless of English and Mathematics.
WAEC noted that the pass rate for candidates with credits in five subjects, including English and Mathematics, dropped by 1.42 percentage points compared to the 2025 examination.
Of the candidates who achieved the benchmark of five credits, including English and Mathematics, 558,883 were male, while 641,631 were female.
Female candidates accounted for 997,267 of the total candidates who sat the examination, representing 51.12 per cent, while 953,459 males made up 48.88 per cent.
The council further disclosed that 1,834,695 candidates, representing 94.05 per cent, had their results fully processed and released. However, the results of 116,031 candidates, representing 5.95 per cent, are still being processed.
WAEC also said 1,213 candidates with special needs participated in the examination, including visually impaired, hearing-impaired, physically challenged, and spastic or mentally challenged candidates.
The 2026 WASSCE marked the second edition of the Computer-Based examination for school candidates. Dangut said the council introduced several innovations, including the Digital Examiner Mark System, serialised question papers to reduce malpractice, and a new portal enabling candidates to generate e-PINs for result checking.
The examination was conducted between April 24 and June 19, 2026, with 102,708 examiners marking scripts across 88 centres.
Dangut also warned that candidates sponsored by state governments owing WAEC would not have their results released until the outstanding debts were settled.
