The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has announced a significant upward revision in the performance of candidates who sat for the 2025 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), following the discovery and correction of a grading error, disclosing that.1,239,884 candidates, representing 62.96 per cent, obtained credits in five subjects including English Language and Mathematics.
This marks a sharp increase from the previously reported 38.32 per cent, which had sparked concern among stakeholders.
At a press briefing held in Lagos on Friday, Dr. Amos Dangut, Head of WAEC’s National Office, disclosed that the discrepancy was traced to a technical error during the printing of the English Language Objective Paper.
A wrong serialised code file had been used, resulting in the application of incorrect marking keys. The error affected paper-based test centres, while schools using the Computer-Based Testing (CBT) mode were not impacted.
“In total, 1,794,821 candidates, or 91.14 per cent, secured credits in at least five subjects with or without English and Mathematics,” Dangut said.
He added that the results of 191,053 candidates, representing 9.7 per cent, remain withheld due to various cases of examination malpractice currently under investigation.
WAEC had initially released the 2025 WASSCE results on August 4, with a total of 1,969,313 candidates participating in the examination. Of this number, 976,787 were male (49.60 per cent) and 992,526 female (50.40 per cent). The examination was also conducted in schools located in Benin Republic, Côte d’Ivoire, and Equatorial Guinea that follow the Nigerian senior secondary school curriculum.
Following the release, WAEC initiated an internal post-examination review, during which the grading error was identified. In line with its commitment to transparency and accountability, the Council corrected the results and issued a public apology.
“We acknowledge the emotional ordeal that candidates, parents, teachers, school administrators, ministries of education, the media, and other well-meaning stakeholders must have had to deal with,” Dangut said. “We are doing everything we can to ensure that such a dismal situation does not recur.”
Candidates have been advised to access their corrected results via the Council’s portal at www.waecdirect.org and apply for their digital certificates 48 hours later.
WAEC also appealed to state governments with outstanding debts to settle them promptly, so that the results of affected candidates can be released without further delay.
