The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) on Wednesday released the results of the 2026 Computer-Based West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for school candidates, with 1,200,514 candidates, representing 61.54 per cent, obtaining credits in at least five subjects, including English Language and Mathematics.
Announcing the results in Lagos, the Head of the WAEC National Office, Dr. Amos Josiah Dangut, said the performance reflected a 1.42 percentage-point decline compared to the 2025 examination.
A total of 1,959,668 candidates from 24,207 schools across Nigeria, the Benin Republic, Côte d’Ivoire, and Equatorial Guinea registered for the examination, while 1,950,726 candidates eventually sat for the test.
According to WAEC, 1,687,378 candidates, representing 86.50 percent, obtained credits in at least five subjects with or without English Language and Mathematics.
Of the 1,200,514 candidates who secured credits in five subjects, including English Language and Mathematics, 558,883 (28.65 percent) were male, while 641,631 (32.89 percent) were female.
Overall, 953,459 male candidates, representing 48.88 per cent, and 997,267 female candidates, representing 51.12 per cent, participated in the examination.
Dangut disclosed that 1,834,695 candidates, representing 94.05 per cent, had their results fully processed and released, while the results of 116,031 candidates, representing 5.95 per cent, were still being processed.
He also revealed that 1,213 candidates with special needs registered for the examination, including 137 visually impaired candidates, 491 with hearing impairment, 55 candidates with spastic and mental disabilities, and 41 physically challenged candidates.
On examination malpractice, WAEC withheld the results of 167,486 candidates, representing 8.59 per cent of those who sat the examination, over alleged involvement in malpractice. The figure represents a decrease from the 9.7 per cent recorded in 2025.
“The increasing use of cell phones in examination halls despite the existing ban, as well as organised cheating in some schools, remain major challenges,” Dangut said.
He added that supervisors and invigilators found aiding examination malpractice had been apprehended and would face sanctions through the relevant State Ministries of Education.
Dangut, who said the 2026 examination marked his third and final results briefing as Head of WAEC Nigeria, noted that it was the second time the council conducted the Computer-Based WASSCE for school candidates.
He highlighted several innovations introduced by the council, including the Digital Examiner Marking System (DEMS), designed to speed up result processing, the serialisation of question papers to curb examination malpractice, and a new online platform that enables candidates to generate e-PINs directly for result checking.
He further announced that candidates can now apply for digital certificates 48 hours after checking their results online through the WAEC portal.
Dangut also disclosed that registration for the 2026 WASSCE for Private Candidates (Second Series) is ongoing at a fee of ₦37,500, with provision made for walk-in candidates.
He said candidates would be able to access their results within 12 hours through the WAEC result portal, while physical certificates would be available within 90 days.
The examination was conducted between April 24 and June 19, 2026, and involved 102,708 examiners across 88 marking centres.
Dangut added that the results of candidates sponsored by state governments indebted to WAEC would remain withheld until the outstanding payments are settled.
