The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has released the results of the 2025 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for school candidates, revealing a troubling decline in academic performance. Out of the 1,969,313 candidates who sat for the examination across 23,554 recognized secondary schools in Nigeria, only 754,545 candidates, representing 38.32%, obtained credits and above in a minimum of five subjects, including the critical subjects of English Language and Mathematics. This marks a sharp 33.8% drop from the 72.12% pass rate recorded in the 2024 WASSCE, making it one of the worst performances in recent history for this examination.
The 2025 WASSCE, conducted between April 24 and June 20, 2025, saw a total of 1,973,365 candidates register, with 1,969,313 ultimately sitting for the exam. The results, announced by Dr. Amos Dangut, Head of WAEC’s Nigeria National Office, during a press briefing on Monday, August 4, 2025, in Lagos, highlighted a concerning trend. While 1,718,090 candidates (87.24%) achieved credits in at least five subjects (with or without English and Mathematics), the percentage of those securing credits in both English and Mathematics, a key benchmark for university admission in Nigeria and other West African countries, plummeted to 38.32%.
This decline is particularly stark when compared to historical data. For instance, the pass rate for five credits, including English and Mathematics, was 76.36% in 2022, 81.70% in 2021, and 65.24% in 2020, showing that the 2025 results represent a significant regression. Dr. Dangut attributed this drop partly to WAEC’s new anti-cheating measures, including the serialization of objective test papers in key subjects like English, Mathematics, Biology, and Economics. “This approach drastically reduced the incidence of collusion and made examination malpractice more difficult. We observed a dip in the performance of objective papers, but essay papers remained consistent with previous years,” he explained.
The 2025 WASSCE results also revealed gender disparities in performance. Of the 754,545 candidates who passed with credits in five subjects, including English and Mathematics, 407,353 (53.99%) were female, while 347,192 (46.01%) were male. This indicates that female candidates slightly outperformed their male counterparts. Overall, the candidate pool was nearly evenly split, with 992,526 (50.40%) female candidates and 976,787 (49.60%) male candidates participating in the exam.
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The examination was not limited to Nigeria. Candidates from schools in Benin Republic, Côte d’Ivoire, and Equatorial Guinea, where the Nigerian curriculum is used, also participated, reflecting the regional scope of the WASSCE.
A significant issue highlighted in the 2025 results was the prevalence of examination malpractice. WAEC withheld the results of 192,089 candidates, 9.75% of the total candidates, due to various reported cases of cheating, including the use of mobile phones in examination halls and organized cheating in some schools. While this represents a slight improvement from the 11.92% of results withheld in 2024, Dr. Dangut expressed concern over the persistent scale of malpractice. “All cases are being investigated, and reports will be presented to the appropriate committee of the Council for consideration and final decisions,” he stated. Affected candidates will be notified through their schools, and those dissatisfied can lodge complaints online via https://waecinternational.org/complaints.
WAEC reiterated its zero-tolerance policy on malpractice, with Dr. Dangut emphasizing, “The Council will continue to sanction all cases of examination malpractice. Schools, supervisors, teachers, and candidates perpetrating this evil are not helping the educational system. WAEC is calling for all hands to be on deck to sanitize the system.”
