The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has withheld the results of 167,486 candidates who sat the 2026 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for school candidates over alleged examination malpractice. The affected candidates represent 8.59 per cent of those who wrote the examination. However, the figure is lower than the 9.7 per cent recorded in 2025.
WAEC cites examination malpractice
Head of the WAEC Nigeria National Office, Dr Amos Dangut, announced the development while releasing the 2026 WASSCE results in Lagos on Wednesday.
He said the council withheld the results because of different forms of examination malpractice. According to Dangut, the increasing use of mobile phones in examination halls and organised cheating in some schools remain major concerns.
“The increasing use of cell phones in the examination hall, in spite of the existing ban, and organised cheating in some schools, are other nagging issues.”
Dangut also disclosed that security agencies arrested some supervisors and invigilators who allegedly assisted candidates during the examination. He said the relevant state ministries of education would handle disciplinary action against those found culpable.
Performance of candidates
A total of 1,959,668 candidates from 24,207 schools registered for the examination across Nigeria, Benin Republic, Côte d’Ivoire and Equatorial Guinea. Out of the total, 1,950,726 candidates eventually sat for the examination.
WAEC said 1,200,514 candidates, representing 61.54 per cent, obtained credits in at least five subjects, including English Language and Mathematics. In addition, 1,687,378 candidates, representing 86.50 per cent, earned credits in at least five subjects with or without English Language and Mathematics.
The council noted that the pass rate for five credits, including English and Mathematics, dropped by 1.42 percentage points compared to the 2025 examination.
More results still being processed
WAEC said it successfully processed and released the results of 1,834,695 candidates, representing 94.05 per cent of those who sat the examination. However, it is still processing the results of 116,031 candidates, representing 5.95 per cent of the total. The council also revealed that 1,213 candidates with special needs participated in the examination.
New measures to curb malpractice
Dangut said WAEC introduced several innovations to improve the conduct of the examination and speed up result processing. According to him, the council deployed the Digital Examiner Mark System, serialised question papers to reduce malpractice and introduced a portal that allows candidates to generate e-PINs directly for checking their results.
He also warned that candidates sponsored by states owing WAEC would not receive their results until the affected state governments settled their outstanding payments.
Read also: WAEC releases 2026 WASSCE results, outlines how candidates can check
