WAEC Corrects SSCE Errors; 62.9% Pass in Maths & English
The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has acknowledged mistakes in the results that were released earlier this week concerning this year’s Senior Secondary School Examination (SSCE), revealing that 1,239,884 candidates have now achieved credit passes in five subjects or more, including both English Language and Mathematics.
This updated figure accounts for 62.9% of the 1,969,313 candidates who participated in the examination.
Furthermore, this new figure significantly improves upon the previous number of 754,545, or 38.32%, who were reported to have credit passes in five or more subjects, including English and mathematics, in the earlier announced results.
During a press briefing held in Lagos on Friday evening, Dr. Amos Dangut, the Head of the National Office of WAEC, acknowledged some shortcomings on the part of the Council, particularly concerning the serialized questions in the objective papers for various subjects.
“Members of the media, with a profound sense of sorrow and regret, I, on behalf of the Registrar to the Council, Management, and Staff of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), Nigeria, welcome you to this press briefing to present the reviewed results of the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for School Candidates, 2025,, in Nigeria.
“As you may recall, on Monday, August 4, 2025, the Council announced the release of results for the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for School Candidates, 2025, in Nigeria. During that briefing, we informed you that 1,969,313 candidates undertook the examination, with 976,787 being male and 992,526 female, which corresponds to 49.60% and 50.40%, respectively.
“Following an analysis of candidates’ performance statistics in the examination, we conveyed that out of the 1,969,313 candidates who took the examination, 1,718,090 candidates, or 87.24%, secured credit and above in at least five subjects (including or excluding English Language and/or Mathematics). Additionally, 754,545 candidates, representing 38.32%, obtained credits and above in a minimum of five subjects, including both English Language and Mathematics.
“However, during an internal review of the released results for the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for School Candidates (SC), 2025, certain discrepancies were identified in the grading of serialized papers. We had previously mentioned that the Council implemented an innovation (paper serialization), which was already used by a national examination body.
“As a transparent and reputable organization, the Council conducted further investigations into all the serialized papers (Mathematics, English Language, Biology, and Economics Objective Papers) and found that a serialized code file had been incorrectly utilized in printing the English Language Objective Tests (Paper 3), resulting in them being scored using the wrong keys. It is important to note that schools that used the computer-based mode for the WASSCE for School Candidates, 2025, were not impacted by this error.
“As a result, the noticeable decline in candidate performance that was previously communicated can be partly attributed to this unfortunate situation. The Council sincerely apologizes for this confusion and deeply regrets any emotional or mental distress it may have caused to the affected candidates and all stakeholders. We have resolved the issue, and candidates can now access their results on the portal (www.waecdirect.org). At this point, I will announce the correct results obtained by the candidates.”
“1,239,884 students, accounting for 62.96%, achieved credits and higher in at least five (5) subjects, inclusive of English Language and Mathematics.
“Out of this total, 582,065, representing 46.95%, were male candidates, whereas 657,819, or 53.05%, were female candidates. A comparison of the percentages of candidates in this category between the WASSCE for school years 2024 and 2025 indicates that in the current year (2025), there is a 9.16% decline in performance (this reflects those who achieved credits and above in a minimum of five (5) subjects, including English Language and Mathematics, as 72.12% of candidates accomplished this last year).
“Members of the Media, while the revised results of the WASSCE for School Candidates, 2025, are being uploaded onto the results website, candidates should, after verifying their results online, apply for their digital certificates, which will be available within forty-eight (48) hours. Candidates who have met their financial commitments to the Council can view their results on the Council’s results website, www.waecdirect.org, within the next twelve hours. New result listings will be dispatched to schools shortly.
“Once again, the management of the West African Examinations Council requests the forgiveness of all stakeholders during this moment. It is very difficult for us to communicate this, but we must confess that it is deeply embarrassing. We recognize the emotional distress that candidates, parents, teachers, school officials, ministries of education, the media, and other concerned stakeholders must have experienced. This is a challenging time for us at WAEC; we are making every effort to prevent such unfortunate circumstances from happening again.”
In response to a question about whether every candidate should recheck their results, Dangut affirmed positively, indicating that everything has now been rectified.
However, he did not disclose what measures would be taken against those accountable for the error.
It is noteworthy that many Nigerians have voiced their dissatisfaction with the unsatisfactory results that were initially released.
Some candidates who excelled in the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), managed by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), unexpectedly underperformed in the English language, particularly in the preliminary SSCE results.
For example, a parent whose child obtained a score of 368 in the UTME had distinctions in all eight subjects in WASSCE but did not pass English Language, expressing strong dissatisfaction to our correspondent and calling for a review.
Earlier this year, JAMB also faced technical issues that disrupted its UTME, prompting some candidates to be asked to retake their examinations.
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