The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has released the WAEC 2026 results for the Computer-Based West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for School Candidates, with 1,200,514 candidates obtaining credits in at least five subjects, including English Language and Mathematics.
Announcing the results on Wednesday in Lagos, the Head of WAEC Nigeria National Office, Dr. Amos Josiah Dangut, said the figure represents 61.54 per cent of candidates who sat the examination, marking a 1.42 percentage-point decline from the 2025 performance.
According to WAEC, 1,959,668 candidates from 24,207 schools registered for the examination across Nigeria, Benin Republic, Côte d’Ivoire and Equatorial Guinea.
Out of that number, 1,950,726 candidates eventually sat for the examination. The council disclosed that: 1,200,514 candidates (61.54%) earned at least five credits, including English Language and Mathematics, 1,687,378 candidates (86.50%) obtained at least five credits with or without English Language and Mathematics.
WAEC’s gender analysis showed that 953,459 males (48.88%) and 997,267 females (51.12%) participated in the examination. Among the candidates who secured five credits, including English and Mathematics: 558,883 (28.65%) were male, 641,631 (32.89%) were female.
Dr. Dangut revealed that 1,834,695 candidates, representing 94.05 per cent, have had their results fully processed and released. However, the results of 116,031 candidates (5.95%) remain under processing.
WAEC also confirmed that 1,213 candidates with special needs registered for the examination, including: 137 visually impaired candidates, 491 candidates with hearing impairments, 55 spastic and mentally challenged candidates, 41 physically challenged candidates.
The council announced that the results of 167,486 candidates, representing 8.59 per cent, have been withheld over alleged examination malpractice. According to Dr. Dangut, the figure is lower than the 9.7 per cent recorded in 2025.
He identified the continued use of mobile phones during examinations and organised cheating in some schools as major challenges. The WAEC boss added that supervisors and invigilators found assisting candidates in malpractice have been apprehended and would face disciplinary action through their respective State Ministries of Education.
Highlighting improvements introduced during the examination, Dr. Dangut noted that this year’s exercise marked the second Computer-Based WASSCE conducted for school candidates.
He said WAEC also deployed several innovations, including: the Digital Examiner Mark System (DEMS) to speed up result processing, serialised question papers to reduce examination malpractice, a new online platform that enables candidates to generate e-PINs directly for result checking.
WAEC announced that candidates can apply for digital certificates 48 hours after checking their results through WAEC Direct. The council also disclosed that registration for the 2026 WASSCE for Private Candidates (Second Series) is ongoing at ₦37,500, with provision for walk-in candidates.
Additionally, officially compiled WAEC past questions and answers are now available for ₦5,200 per subject combination. Candidates can check their WAEC 2026 results within 12 hours through the WAEC Direct portal, while physical certificates will be available within 90 days.
The examination was conducted between April 24 and June 19, 2026, with 102,708 examiners participating in the marking process across 88 marking centres. WAEC further noted that results of candidates sponsored by state governments that are yet to settle outstanding financial obligations to the council will remain withheld until the debts are paid.
