The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has withheld the results of 167,486 candidates who sat for the 2026 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for school candidates over alleged involvement in examination malpractice.
The withheld results represent 8.59 per cent of the 1,950,726 candidates who wrote the examination, indicating a slight improvement compared with the 9.7 per cent malpractice rate recorded in the 2025 WASSCE.
The announcement was made on Wednesday in Lagos by the Head of the WAEC National Office, Dr Amos Dangut, during the official release of the 2026 WASSCE results.
Dangut explained that the affected candidates were implicated in various forms of examination misconduct, including the increasing use of mobile phones inside examination halls despite an existing ban and organised cheating allegedly facilitated in some schools.
“The increasing use of cell phones in the examination hall, in spite of the existing ban, and organised cheating in some schools, are other nagging issues,” Dangut said.
He disclosed that some supervisors and invigilators caught assisting candidates to cheat had been arrested and would be sanctioned through the appropriate state ministries of education.
WAEC stated that 1,959,668 candidates from 24,207 schools across Nigeria, the Benin Republic, Côte d’Ivoire and Equatorial Guinea registered for the examination, while 1,950,726 candidates eventually sat for the papers.
Of those who wrote the examination, 1,200,514 candidates, representing 61.54 per cent, obtained credit passes in at least five subjects, including English Language and Mathematics.
The council also reported that 1,687,378 candidates, representing 86.50 per cent, secured credits in at least five subjects with or without English Language and Mathematics.
Despite the overall performance, WAEC noted that the proportion of candidates who obtained five credits, including English Language and Mathematics, declined by 1.42 percentage points compared with the 2025 examination.
On the processing of results, the examination body disclosed that 1,834,695 candidates, representing 94.05 per cent of those who sat the examination, had their results fully processed and released.
However, the results of 116,031 candidates, representing 5.95 per cent, are still being processed.
WAEC attributed the pending results to ongoing verification and processing procedures.
Regarding gender distribution, the council said 997,267 females, representing 51.12 per cent, participated in the examination, while 953,459 males, representing 48.88 per cent, sat for the papers.
The council further revealed that 1,213 candidates with special needs participated in the examination. They included 137 visually impaired candidates, 491 candidates with hearing impairment, 55 spastic and mentally challenged candidates, and 41 physically challenged candidates.
Dangut said the council made special arrangements to accommodate candidates with disabilities in line with its policy of inclusive education.
He also stated that the 2026 WASSCE was the second edition of the Computer-Based WASSCE for school candidates following the introduction of the format by WAEC.
According to him, the council introduced several innovations aimed at improving examination administration, reducing malpractice and speeding up result processing.
The innovations include the Digital Examiner Mark System, which was introduced to accelerate the marking and processing of results; the serialisation of question papers, designed to reduce examination malpractice; and a new online portal that enables candidates to generate e-PINs directly for result checking.
Dangut explained that the examination was conducted between April 24 and June 19, 2026, while 102,708 examiners participated in the marking exercise across 88 marking centres.
He described the examination process as one of the largest educational assessment exercises in West Africa and commended examiners, supervisors, invigilators and other officials for their contributions to the successful conduct of the examination.
The WAEC national office head also used the occasion to reiterate the council’s determination to combat examination malpractice and preserve the credibility of its certificates.
According to him, technological innovations, tighter monitoring of examination centres and stronger collaboration with security agencies will continue to form part of WAEC’s anti-malpractice strategy.
Dangut, who noted that the briefing was his third and final appearance as Head of the WAEC National Office in Nigeria, urged candidates, schools and parents to support efforts to restore integrity to public examinations.
He warned that candidates sponsored by state governments that owe WAEC outstanding examination fees would not have their results released until the debts were settled.
The council advised candidates whose results had been withheld to await the conclusion of investigations, adding that those found not culpable would have their results released, while those found guilty would face sanctions in accordance with WAEC regulations.
WAEC also encouraged candidates to check their results through the official result-checking portal and avoid patronising fraudsters who claim to have access to examination databases.
The release of the 2026 WASSCE results marks another major milestone in Nigeria’s secondary education calendar, with millions of candidates now expected to use the results for admission into tertiary institutions and other educational opportunities across the country and beyond.
