Do you want to prepare well and pass your WAEC exam with A’s in all of your subjects?
Without wasting much of your time, let us quickly go over the tips and tricks for passing your WAEC exam without expo.
Starting out…
Why Do Students Fail the WAEC Exam?
Most students fail the WAEC exam for the following reasons:
Answering questions incorrectly.
Poor educational system
Poor reading habits
reliance on exposure lack of early preparation lack of careful reading of instructions
Laziness
Failure to attend classes and tutorials
Distraction from social media
Studying without previous questions or a syllabus
If you truly want to pass WAEC, you must overcome these obstacles.
Moving on, it is also critical to understand the WAEC examination, especially if you have never taken the exam before.
Let’s get started!
What exactly is WAEC?
WAEC is an abbreviation for West African Examination Council.
It is, as the name suggests, an examination body for the English-speaking region of West Africa.
It is an examination body founded in 1952 with the responsibility of conducting the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for university and JAMB entry examinations in five West African countries: Nigeria, Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.
It issues certificates to its candidates at the end of the exams.
Examining authorities around the world recognize this certificate.
As a result, if you plan to study abroad, you can use your WAEC certificate.
The Goal and Purpose of WAEC
Many students are still unaware of the WAEC exam objectives.
These are some of the reasons WAEC established this examination.
Develop a positive attitude and approach to dealing with academic problems in students.
Students should be taught how to write exams on their own.
Assist students in developing technical skills and applying them in their field of study at higher education institutions.
Students should be tested on how much they have learned from their SS1 to SS3 class lessons.
To prepare students who will continue their education at a higher level.
To provide a high-quality, dependable educational assessment in its region.
To comprehend how each subject relates to their field in a tertiary institution.
WAEC Registration Requirements
You must be in the senior secondary school in a private or public school.
Know the subjects you want to register.
Have the registration fees.
Get a personal email address and know the password
Know your date of birth.
Have a personal phone number.
Know the correct spelling of your name (Surname, First name, and Middle name).
Know your local government and state of origin.
Know your residential address.
Prepare for the examination.
Number of Subjects Taken by WAEC Candidates
WAEC Candidates are required to enter and sit for a minimum of eight (8) and a maximum of nine (9) subjects.
However, it is advisable to select nine (9) subjects during WAEC registration because it will increase your chances of success in the examination.
WAEC Pass Mark
Getting the acceptable grade and pass mark for WAEC in all your required subjects at once is what is needed to pass WAEC in one sitting.
Mark Grade Acceptance
75 – 100 A1 Most Acceptable
70 – 74 B2 More Acceptable
65 – 69 B3 More Acceptable
60 – 64 C4 Acceptable
55 – 59 C5 Acceptable
50 – 54 C6 Acceptable
45 – 49 D7 Rarely Acceptable
40 – 44 E8 Rarely Acceptable
0 – 43 F9 Not Acceptable
Materials Needed to Pass WAEC Examination
WAEC Past Questions and Answers
Over the last few years, WAEC has been repeating all her previously ask examination questions.
Studying WAEC past questions and answers is not only important, but is a must for every WAEC candidate.
Stopwatches
To master time management, you must have a stopwatch to use when practicing with previous questions.
Time management is critical in WAEC exams, and if you do not learn how to manage your time, you may fail the exam even if the questions are simple.
Syllabus for WAEC
A syllabus is a document that contains all of the topics on which questions in a specific examination may be asked.
Notebook
You will also need a notebook or large jotter to record all of the important information you have learned while studying.
When you write in a notebook, you can easily return to it later to see what you have learned thus far.
WAEC is a requirement for admission to Nigerian tertiary institutions.
Candidates are required to have the CREDIT GRADE in CORE SUBJECTS in order to get admission into a university.
The core subjects are those closely related to your course of study – Mathematics and English Language falls into this core category.
Your core subjects in WAEC will determine the subjects you would enroll in JAMB.
Steps to Passing WAEC Examination in One Sitting
1. Be Determined
Determination is one important thing that will help a student achieve success in any examination.
There is no examination you can pass very well with fear in you.
One cause of massive failures and malpractices during examination is students allowing people’s experience and words discourage them even after reading hard for the exam.
Don’t think and make comments like; “WAEC English is too hard”, “WAEC Mathematics is too difficult to pass”, “Chemistry is impossible to pass.”
Some people use their terrible experiences and words to discourage others that are about to write WAEC exams.
2. Set Realistic Grades You Want to Achieve
If you want to achieve success in your WAEC examination, draft out all the subjects you are sitting for in your examination and give them your desired grades.
Then work on how to achieve your goal.
See an example below:
Agric Science = A1
Biology = A1
Chemistry = B2
Computer = B2
Economics = B3
English = B3
Geography = B2
Mathematics = A1
Physics = B2
Setting a goal ahead will motivate and even strengthens you when you are getting weak.
3. Start Reading Now
There have been controversies when WAEC candidates should start preparing for their examination.
While some people opined that 6 months before the exam is the best, some said that 3 months before the exam is preferable.
Some are even of the opinion that candidates should start preparing from their day-one in secondary school and some agreed reading should begin when the commencement of WAEC registration has been announced.
Well, there is no particular answer to this question, it depends on the intellectual capacity of the person who want to take the examination.
But, for me, if you want to pass excellently, the best time to read for WAEC examination is now.
Here’s why.
WAEC covers so many topics for each subject and the fact that you’d be sitting for 8 or 9 WAEC subjects is a sound reason to read for the exam as early as possible.
You can’t pass WAEC examination by just entering the examination hall and doing some magic.
The earlier you read, the more topics you’d cover and the more topics you cover and understand on each subject, the higher you will score in those subjects.
Late preparation can increase your stress level and eventually lead to poor performance.
4. Prepare and Stick to a Reading Timetable
Having and reading with a timetable will help you cover up all areas of concentration in your notebooks and textbooks, will give you the opportunity to maximize your time effectively, and to prepare apt for WAEC examination.
When creating your timetable, make sure you give more time to your core subjects you are recommended to pass, before going for admission to study your desired course.
For instance, a student who wants to study Biochemistry, must give more time to Mathematics, English, Biology, Chemistry and Physics.
This will help you pass effectively, at least in those subjects.
5. Study with WAEC Syllabus
WAEC syllabus is another useful material needed in passing your WAEC examination excellently.
WAEC questions for each of your subject will come from the topics in the syllabus for that subject.
So, you don’t need to read all the topics from your SS1–3.
Instead, to prepare and pass your exam excellently, read only those recommended topics in the WAEC syllabus for your subjects.
Other topics are a waste of time — they won’t come out.
6. Read Only Recommended Textbooks
Textbooks are needed for you to understand some questions you might have difficulty to answer.
Along with the recommended topics, go for recommended textbooks that explain topics better and can hasten your understanding.
These textbooks are not compulsory to have but they are recommended.
You only need to have just one (or two) of the WAEC recommended textbooks for your subjects, and not all of them.
Just make sure you buy the correct editions of these textbooks from a good bookshop.
7. Read Your School Notes
Reading your school notes from SS1 – SS3, is also very important in passing your WAEC examination.
Your notes will make you study well and will enhance your understanding as you read your textbooks.
How To Read and Understand WAEC
Attempt to solve the calculation questions in your textbooks and examples in class.
Do not check your WhatsApp and Facebook during study hours.
Do not cram the calculations in your note or textbooks.
Do not lie down when you are reading.
Do not read text aloud when you study.
Learn and understand the steps for calculations.
Never study on an empty stomach.
Plan your study ahead of time.
Read at a specific time every day.
Study in a serene environment with no form of distractions.
Study your note and textbooks between lines.
Suppress every feeling of laziness.
Understand the concepts in a page before moving to the next.
When you are having difficulties understanding a topic, consult your old notebooks to help make things easier for you.
Study your notes with the recommended textbooks for WAEC that is at the end of this post.
8. Avoid Distractions
Distraction is something that will definitely come to impede your preparation to pass WAEC examination.
For you, it may not be your friends. It may be your job, parents or something.
If you want to pass, you must be serious about the examination and try to avoid all distractions.
9. Study WAEC Past Questions and Answers
Past questions are always necessary for every examination.
If you really want to pass WAEC exam, you must go through all last year’s WAEC past questions and answers because, most of the time, WAEC repeat their previously asked questions including English comprehension passages.
Over 70% of the next WAEC questions have been asked in previous exams.
Which means that for every 50 objective questions, 35 have been asked before.
And for every 10 theory or practical questions, 7 are repetitions.
But how can you predict the past questions that will be repeated in WAEC this year?
Well, it has been discovered that the most repeated WAEC questions are often within 10 years interval.
So, here’s what you have to do…
Get Correct WAEC Past Questions and Answers
Pick six random years from 1988 to 1998
Another six from 1999 to 2009
One last six from 2010 to 2018
Study these 18 different years of WAEC past questions and you’d even see the repeated questions yourself and also understand their pattern.
The more WAEC past questions you study, the more likely you’d see repeated questions in your WAEC and the more repeated questions you see in your WAEC, the higher you will score because they will be questions you have practiced before.
10. Write WAEC Mock Examination
To get good grades in your WAEC examination, participate in a mock WAEC examination.
The WAEC mock exam is a preliminary examination organized by schools to test and determine the level of student’s preparedness for the upcoming exams.
The nature of the mock exam is the same format as the WAEC exam.
Doing this will help to put you in WAEC examination condition and also reduce your fear for the main examination.
Do not make the common mistake of not taking the mock exam seriously.
Prepare and write the exam as if it were the main examination.
After the test, you would know your chances of passing the WAEC exam as you know your performance.
11. Be Close to Your Teachers (Especially for WAEC Practical)
Most subject teachers always get direct information from WAEC through the principal on what to set up for their subject(s) practical.
Though they might not share all the information with you but they will drop helpful hints.
So, if you can’t be close to one of your practical subjects (Biology, Physics, Chemistry, Fisheries, Fine Art) teacher, at least be close to someone who is close to them, maybe through your class prefect, his assistant, your other classmate or even another subject teacher.
Because just one information can boost your performance.
If your teacher says that your school has been asked to get cockroach and carpet grass for Biology or Agric Practical, this should tell you that the practical will be about the above items.
Likewise, if your school is setting up tripod stands, beakers, Bunsen burners — you should know what that means for Chemistry, etc.
Once you get this idea, start reading intensively on the topics that those specimens or apparatus represent.
12. Know How WAEC Grades/Marks Your Paper
Some of your teachers are WAEC examiners; they are familiar with the WAEC rules and regulations and can guide you to success in your examination.
Don’t just prepare for your examination like that, ask your subject teacher’s questions like:
How do they allocate marks to candidates?
How are they answers sheets marked?
If you take their word and answers with seriousness, I assure you good grades in your upcoming examination.
13. Join WAEC Study Groups
It has been evidently proven that study groups help a lot of students to understand effectively.
You should join legit and educational WAEC Facebook and WhatsApp Groups if you want to pass your WAEC exam.
Joining these groups on social media will help you get all the latest updates about WAEC examination for the year.
14. Attend WAEC Tutorials and Private Lessons
You may find it difficult to ask questions in your classroom during the school period.
But attending WAEC tutorials and private lessons would help you understand difficult topics by giving you simple explanations of topics.
Ensure that the tutorial you attend is exam-focused.
Do not go to lesson centres where students go to show off the latest fashion, mobile devices and get boyfriends and girlfriends.
They are distractions to your exam success.
15. Write Clearly [Have Good Handwriting]
While WAEC objective papers will have options, theory papers won’t.
So, you’d be required to write out your exam details and all your answers to the theory questions on an answer booklet that will be given to you.
Since WAEC is handwritten, you are supposed to improve in the eligibility of your handwriting so that the person, who will mark it, will not find it difficult to mark.
Sometimes, teachers who mark WAEC examination answer sheets, give bonus marks for good handwriting and fail those whose handwriting cannot be clearly seen.
So, if you want to get your full marks, I advise you to work on the eligibility of your handwriting.
If your handwriting is ugly, you can make it legible by writing big and bold.
Right Answers + Good Writing = FULL Mark.
16. Avoid Examination Malpractice
There may be some teachers and websites that would claim to send you WAEC questions and answers to make money from students.
But it can end in PREMIUM Tears.
To be on the safe side, expect expo but prepare like there won’t be any.
Use a dark pencil.
Use pencil throughout and NO Biro.
Write the title of your diagram in capital letters at the bottom of the diagram.
19. Rest Well the Night Before Your Examination
You don’t even need to stress your brain the night before your exam.
On the night before your Exam, just pick your Jotter and scan through it to keep your brain busy.
Make sure you don’t try cramming anything else; you may start confusing your memory.
Your scanning should not be more than needed. Let’s say 2 – 3 hours is okay.
After you scan, eat good food that will help your memory, sleep without thinking about the exam, and relax your brain.
You don’t have to spend your time worrying about your exam.
If you do this, then you are burning and ruining out and yourself and your memory and this can affect your performance in the exam.
Also, make sure you set an alarm to wake you up if your Exam is coming up very early in the morning.
20. Always Pray
You are not the only one that can decide whether you will pass WAEC examination in one sitting.
There are some factors that you cannot control, especially after submitting your answer sheet.
It is these unknown factors that you should hand over to your God in prayers.
Pray while you prepare for WAEC, during your exam and even when you are waiting for your result to come out.
In case you don’t know, an examiner can fail all candidates in a centre if there is any trace of examination malpractice.
Also, there is nothing worse than having your examination script marked by the wrong person.
So, whether you are a Christian/Muslim/others, pray to your God the way you know how to.
Ask God for the ability to remember all what you have read before the examination and not to see NO RESULTS at the end.
21. Arrive Early to Your Examination Hall
It is very wrong to come late when writing an examination, because:
The tension and fear on the day of an examination is usually higher. Thus, you are likely to forget something if you try to rush to the examination hall with that tension and fear.
It is possible that you will not even write the examination if you come too late to the examination hall.
When you are in a rush to finish the exam because of coming late, you would end up leaving out relevant information in your answers and your work would not be so organized. That’s not good. You would lose marks for it.
If you arrive too late to an examination hall, it is assumed you have seen the questions already, and you would not be admitted into the center.
So, make sure you come to your WAEC examination hall as early as possible and start revising all what you have read before the examination.
22. Carefully Read Instructions and Understand Questions Before Answering Them
WAEC questions are becoming perplexing every day and if you don’t take your time to understand questions, it is very difficult to pass.
You must read instructions and understand questions before attempting to answer them.
Unlike your objective papers, WAEC theory questions are not for you to answer all.
Whichever it is, the instructions are always stated under each section of your WAEC theory paper.
If it is possible, reading the instructions and questions twice will go a long way to help you pass WAEC examination excellently.
23. Learn Time Management
Time management is one of the important things every examination candidate must note.
Limited time is always allocated to each of your WAEC subject paper.
So, you’d need to be fast in answering all the required questions and the best way to do that is to start with the questions you know.
In WAEC examination, a minimum of 2hours is given for every subject.
You will surely encounter some tough questions — but what’s the point of wasting time on a question you don’t know when there are many other questions that you know but are yet to be answered?
If you just started the paper (so there is still time), skip those tough questions and return to them after you have finished with all the questions that you know.
But remember to return to those tough questions when you are done with others.
If you are unable to finish up your questions before the stoppage time, you may not be given more time to write.
Ensure that you finish up your questions 30 minutes before the stoppage time.
This will help you revise your work and check for corrections.
24. Answer Only Questions Meant for Your Country
Aside Nigeria, other West African Countries like Ghana, Sierra Leone, Liberia and The Gambia also take part in WAEC and some section(s) in your theory paper might be for only candidates in any of those other countries.
This will be stated in the instructions.
Only attempt to answer questions under your country section because answering other countries’ questions will earn you zero marks.
25. Don’t Forget Compulsory Questions
Under your country section, there will be further instructions on how many questions to answer and which one(s) is/are compulsory.
Compulsory questions carry the HIGHEST marks, so if you want to pass WAEC in one sitting with good grades in all your subjects, don’t ignore compulsory questions.
Ensure you answer the required number of questions – Not More. Not Less.
26. Answer All Objective Questions
Do NOT leave the 50 objective questions unanswered.
Even when you don’t know the answer, just pick any of the options at random because it is better to guess the answer than to leave it blank.
27. Shade Clearly
You’d be given an OMR sheet to shade the boxes to show your WAEC exam details and your answers to the objective questions.
OMR sheets are often marked by computers that are programmed to recognize only dark shades.
So, when you shade faintly, the computer will assume that you didn’t shade any answer for that box and no mark will be awarded for that question.
So, to prevent such computer error from withholding your result or reducing your total objective score for that WAEC subject, ensure that all your shadings are bold and dark enough to be easily seen.
Use pencils that give darker shades on paper. HBs are recommended.
What’s the Difference between WAEC and NECO?
WAEC is International while NECO is a national examination.
WAEC is for only five West African countries namely: Nigeria, Gambia, Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone while NECO is only for Nigerian students.
What is the Structure of WAEC Questions?
WAEC examination questions booklets are divided into two sections: Section A (Objective) and Section B (Theory).
Objective: Unlike the theory part, the objective part comprises questions, where options will be given for you to choose from (they are usually the first part in your question paper).
Theory: Here, you will be asked to answer questions without any option. You are expected to give detail on the questions you will be asked, in this part.
Is WAEC difficult to pass?
NO, WAEC isn’t difficult to pass.
The reason is that the board will set no question beyond what you’ve been taught in school and to ensure student do well in their exams, they also release syllabus for each subject but many candidates ignore this and keep reading the whole content of the textbook including some unnecessary book.
Is WAEC Better than NECO?
A former Commissioner of Education, Prof. Ngozi Osarenren said that the regional examination body WAEC (West African Examination Council) is better and more effective than its Nigerian counterpart, National Examination Council (NECO).
She also opined that the regional examination body, WAEC is more competitive, harder, better and can be used in any region of the continent as it is the same exam written across the West African sub-region.
