The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has officially announced the release of the 2026 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) results for school candidates, with more than 1.2 million students attaining the benchmark required for admission into higher institutions across Nigeria.
The announcement was made on Wednesday at the Council’s national office in Yaba, Lagos, where the Head of the Nigeria National Office, Dr. Amos Josiah Dangut, presented a comprehensive overview of candidates’ performance, examination statistics and measures taken to safeguard the credibility of the examination process.
According to WAEC, a total of 1,200,514 candidates obtained at least five credits, including English Language and Mathematics, which remain the minimum academic requirement for admission into most Nigerian universities, polytechnics and colleges of education.
The figure represents 61.54 percent of the 1,950,726 candidates who sat for the examination nationwide.
Although the latest results indicate that a majority of candidates met the admission requirement, the Council acknowledged that there was a marginal decline in overall performance when compared with the previous year.
WAEC disclosed that the 2026 success rate fell by 1.42 percentage points from the figure recorded in the 2025 examination, suggesting that while the overall outcome remained encouraging, there is still room for improvement in students’ academic performance.
An analysis of the results also showed that female candidates recorded better performance than their male counterparts. Of those who secured five credits, including English Language and Mathematics, 641,631 were female candidates, representing 32.89 percent of the total number of candidates who wrote the examination.
In comparison, 558,883 male candidates, accounting for 28.65 percent, achieved the same standard.
Beyond the benchmark required for tertiary admission, WAEC revealed that an even larger number of candidates performed well across their subjects.
The Council reported that 1,687,378 candidates, representing 86.50 percent of all participants, obtained at least five credit passes irrespective of whether they passed English Language and Mathematics.
This, according to the examination body, reflects a generally satisfactory performance in the examination despite the slight decline in the overall pass rate.
Providing further insight into the conduct of the examination, Dr. Dangut disclosed that 1,959,668 candidates initially registered for the 2026 WASSCE from 24,207 secondary schools across Nigeria. However, 1,950,726 candidates eventually participated in the examination.
The candidates comprised 953,459 males, representing 48.88 percent, and 997,267 females, representing 51.12 percent, indicating that female candidates slightly outnumbered their male counterparts.
WAEC also announced that the processing of candidates’ results has been substantially completed.
According to the Council, the results of 1,834,695 candidates, representing 94.05 percent of those who sat the examination, have been successfully processed and released.
Meanwhile, the results of 116,031 candidates, equivalent to 5.95 percent of participants, remain under processing due to issues that are still being resolved.
The Council assured affected candidates that there is no cause for alarm, explaining that the outstanding results would be released once the necessary verification and administrative procedures have been completed.
It expressed confidence that the remaining results would become available within the next few days.
On examination malpractice, WAEC disclosed that the results of 167,486 candidates have been withheld over allegations of involvement in various forms of examination misconduct.
The affected candidates account for 8.59 percent of the total number of candidates who wrote the examination.
Despite the large number of withheld results, the Council described the development as an improvement over the previous year.
According to WAEC, the percentage of withheld results declined by 1.11 percentage points compared to the 9.7 percent recorded during the 2025 WASSCE, suggesting that efforts to curb examination malpractice are beginning to yield positive results.
Dr. Dangut attributed the reduction in malpractice cases to several reforms introduced by the Council to improve transparency and strengthen the integrity of the examination process.
He explained that WAEC has continued to deploy technology-driven measures, including computer-based examinations, paper serialisation and the Digital Examiner Mark System, all designed to reduce opportunities for malpractice and enhance the credibility of the examination.
He further noted that the Council remains committed to ensuring that the certificates issued to successful candidates retain their value and international recognition by maintaining strict standards throughout the examination and marking processes.
Candidates who have fulfilled all financial obligations to the Council have been advised to check their results through WAEC’s official online results portal within the next twelve hours.
Dr. Dangut added that official Result Listings would also be forwarded to schools in due course to facilitate access to candidates’ performance records.
However, the Council clarified that candidates sponsored by state governments with outstanding financial obligations to WAEC would not immediately receive their results.
According to Dr. Dangut, the affected candidates will only gain access to their results after the respective state governments settle their indebtedness to the examination body.
The release of the 2026 WASSCE results marks another important milestone for thousands of Nigerian students seeking admission into tertiary institutions.
While the slight decline in the overall pass rate may prompt renewed discussions on educational standards, the reduction in examination malpractice cases has been welcomed as evidence that ongoing reforms are strengthening the credibility and integrity of the country’s secondary school examination system.
Education stakeholders are expected to study the latest performance statistics closely as schools, parents and policymakers continue efforts aimed at improving learning outcomes and ensuring that more students meet the academic requirements needed for higher education in future examinations.
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