In a press briefing on Friday at the council’s national office in Yaba, Lagos, the Head of WAEC Nigeria, Dr Amos Dangut, admitted to what he described as a “serious and embarrassing” error in the marking of serialised papers, which led to widespread inaccuracies in the original results.
“With deep sorrow and regret, I, on behalf of the Registrar to Council, Management and Staff of WAEC Nigeria, apologise for the discrepancies discovered in the grading of serialised papers,” Dr Dangut said.
Cause of the Error
WAEC explained that the issue arose from a new security measure – paper serialisation – already in use by another national examination body. The aim was to curb malpractice and improve integrity.
However, during post-examination reviews, it was discovered that English Language Objective Test (Paper 3) was graded with the wrong answer keys after a wrongly assigned serialised code file was used. Other serialised subjects included Mathematics, Biology, and Economics.
Importantly, candidates who took the exam via the computer-based mode were not affected.
Improved Performance After Review
Following the correction, 1,794,821 candidates (91.14%) obtained credit and above in at least five subjects (with or without English and Mathematics).
A total of 1,239,884 candidates (62.96%) achieved five credits, including English
and Mathematics – a sharp rise from the initially reported 38.32%. Of this number, 53.05% were female and 46.95% male.Despite the improvement, this year’s performance still reflects a 9.16% drop compared to the 72.12% pass rate in 2024.
Other Key Figures
Total candidates: 1,969,313 (including candidates from Benin Republic, Côte d’Ivoire, and Equatorial Guinea following the Nigerian curriculum).
Special needs candidates: 12,178, including visually impaired (112), hearing impaired (615), physically challenged (37), and spastic/mentally challenged (52).
Fully processed results: 1,763,470 (89.55%).
Pending results due to technical issues: 205,916 (10.45%).
Withheld results over malpractice: 191,053 (9.7%), lower than 11.92% in 2024.
WAEC assured that efforts are underway to process all pending results and resolve malpractice investigations. Affected candidates can lodge complaints at waecinternational.org/complaints.
Accessing Results and Certificates
Candidates can access their results via www.waecdirect.org. Digital certificates will be available within 48 hours of verification, while hard copies will be ready within 90 days.
However, candidates sponsored by indebted state governments will not be able to access their results until the council receives payment. WAEC urged the concerned authorities to settle outstanding debts promptly.
WAEC’s Pledge
Dr Dangut offered an unreserved apology to candidates, parents, teachers, and education stakeholders.
“We acknowledge the emotional ordeal endured by candidates, parents, teachers, school administrators, Ministries of Education, and the media. This is a trying time for us, and we are determined to ensure such a situation never recurs,” he said.
WAEC thanked the Federal Government, the Minister of Education, and state education bodies for their support during the review process.
