WAEC to Fully Adopt CBT for WASSCE by 2026
The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has reiterated its dedication to completely converting the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) to a computer-based testing (CBT) format by the year 2026.
The council indicated that this transition will represent a significant transformation in the assessment system and encourage schools to adopt digital preparedness.
Amos Dangut, the head of WAEC’s National Office, made this announcement on Tuesday during a sensitization session with members of the National Assembly Committee on Education in Abuja.
He clarified that the shift, which started with private candidates in 2024, has already seen “notable progress” and will be expanded across the nation prior to the 2026 deadline.
“We have conducted five examinations thus far—one for private candidates and one for school candidates—and by 2026, there will be extensive deployment,” Dangut remarked.
He reassured stakeholders that issues related to infrastructure and cyber threats would not hinder the initiative, pointing out that WAEC has successfully administered exams in remote locations without any interruptions.
Dangut also mentioned that candidates’ performance in CBT has been “empirically superior” to that of paper-based examinations.
WAEC initially launched the CBT format in 2024 for private candidates, marking the start of the decline of the conventional paper-and-pencil approach. The council now plans to broaden the implementation to encompass all school-based candidates.
On July 22, 2025, the federal government also confirmed that both privately owned CBT centers and those within public institutions would be fully operational for the WASSCE by 2026.
Minister of Education Tunji Alausa explained that the WAEC and NECO exams, which have traditionally been held in schools, will adopt the model used by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB).
“It will be similar to JAMB examinations, which are conducted at CBT centers. We have numerous CBT centers available throughout the country. These are the centers we will utilize. It’s not that students lack the facilities—it’s the schools that do not,” Alausa emphasized.
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