Only 38.32% of candidates who sat the 2025 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) obtained credit and above in a minimum of five subjects, including English Language and Mathematics, the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has announced.
This figure marked a significant drop in performance compared to the 72.12% recorded in 2024 — a decline of 33.8%.
Head of the Nigeria National Office of WAEC, Amos Dangut, at a press briefing on Monday in Lagos, announced the official release of the 2025 WASSCE results for school candidates.
“The analysis of candidates’ performance in the examination shows that out of the 1,969,313 candidates who sat the exam, 1,718,090 — representing 87.24% — obtained credit and above in a minimum of any five subjects, with or without English language and/or mathematics.
“However, only 754,545 candidates, representing 38.32%, obtained credit and above in a minimum of five subjects, including English language and Mathematics.
“Of this number, 347,192 (46.01%) were male candidates, while 407,353 (53.99%) were female. A comparison with the 2024 WASSCE performance indicated a 33.8% decline in this key benchmark, as 72.12% of candidates achieved the same standard last year,” Dangut stated.
A total of 1,969,313 candidates sat the examination across 23,554 recognised secondary schools in Nigeria.
The figure includes 12,178 candidates with special needs, such as the visually and hearing impaired, who were fully accommodated during the exams.
The gender breakdown showed a fairly even split, with 976,787 males (49.60%) and 992,526 females (50.40%) participating.
Despite logistical challenges and a delayed paper in a few locations, Dangut described the overall conduct of the examination as a success, crediting the support of federal and state education ministries, security agencies, and other stakeholders.
He also cited WAEC’s serialisation strategy—assigning candidates different versions of objective test questions—as a deterrent to malpractice, though it may have contributed to the drop in performance.
“While performance in the essay papers remained comparable to previous years, the objective papers recorded a slight but noticeable decline,” he said.
Furthermore, 1,517,517 candidates (77.06%) had their results fully processed and released, while 451,796 candidates (22.94%) had one or more subjects still being processed due to issues under resolution.
On exam malpractice, results of 192,089 candidates (9.75%) are being withheld pending investigation.
WAEC noted a decline from the 11.92% recorded in 2024 but continued to flag concerns over mobile phone use and organised cheating.
WAEC reiterated its readiness for the total rollout of computer-based WASSCE for school candidates in 2026, following a partial deployment in 2025 for private candidates.
The Council also encouraged candidates to apply for their digital certificates, which will be available within 48 hours of result release, and urged indebted state governments to settle their dues to enable affected candidates to access their results.
The examination body noted that candidates can access their results online via www.waecdirect.org, using the Smart Identity Cards issued during the examination.
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