The West African Examinations Council has moved to reassure candidates, parents, schools and the wider public over the credibility of the 2026 West African Senior School Certificate Examination results, urging Nigerians to disregard unverified claims questioning the integrity of the outcome.
Also read: 17year Teenager wins N1m at GOtv Boxing Night 32
The council issued the clarification on Thursday through its Public Affairs Department after concerns emerged on social media regarding the accuracy and reliability of the recently released results. WAEC maintained that the examination was conducted and assessed under established procedures designed to preserve fairness, transparency and academic standards.
According to the examination body, the 2026 WASSCE for School Candidates followed its standard operational procedures and relevant educational policies, with the Federal Ministry of Education involved in the process.
WAEC said the results were subjected to rigorous quality-assurance mechanisms, stressing that the processes used this year were consistent with the examination standards it has applied over several decades. The council also acknowledged that public scrutiny is legitimate, particularly when examination results determine students’ progression into higher education.
However, it cautioned candidates and parents against accepting claims circulated through social media without verification. The council noted that anxiety surrounding examination outcomes is understandable, particularly for students awaiting admission into universities, polytechnics and other institutions.
The defence of the results comes shortly after WAEC released the 2026 WASSCE performance figures. A total of 1,200,514 candidates, representing 61.54 per cent of the candidates who sat the examination, secured credits in at least five subjects, including English Language and Mathematics. This represented a 1.42 percentage-point decline from the corresponding figure recorded in 2025.
WAEC also withheld the results of 167,486 candidates, equivalent to 8.59 per cent of the total candidature, over alleged examination malpractice. The affected cases are being investigated and will be considered by the Nigeria Examinations Committee before final decisions are reached.
The council has explained that some of the malpractice concerns involved the use of mobile phones in examination halls despite the existing prohibition, as well as organised cheating in some schools. It also disclosed that some supervisors and invigilators allegedly involved in assisting candidates had been arrested and would face appropriate disciplinary procedures.
Despite the withheld results and concerns generated by the performance figures, WAEC insisted that the examination itself remained firmly anchored on established assessment standards.
The council’s position also reflects the changing examination landscape, particularly with the continued adoption of computer-based testing. The 2026 WASSCE for School Candidates was the second edition conducted in the computer-based format, with WAEC deploying additional technological measures aimed at strengthening examination security and improving the processing of results.
Among the measures introduced are the Digital Examiner Mark System, serialised question papers and an updated results platform. These interventions are intended to reduce opportunities for malpractice while making the examination and results-processing systems more efficient.
WAEC’s latest statement therefore seeks to draw a line between legitimate scrutiny and speculation, maintaining that concerns about individual results should be addressed through the council’s established channels rather than through unverified claims.
For candidates who have received their results, the council’s message is essentially one of confidence: the figures released were not arbitrarily generated but emerged from an assessment process that WAEC says was carefully monitored and quality assured.
As debates over examination performance continue, the credibility of Nigeria’s public examination system remains a matter of considerable importance. For WAEC, maintaining public confidence will depend not only on defending its processes but also on ensuring that candidates and stakeholders can obtain clear, verifiable explanations whenever questions arise over examination outcomes.
Leave a Comment