WAEC Exam Leaked to Students Days Before Scheduled Date, Experts Weigh In

• Widespread exam paper leaks have plagued the ongoing 2025 WAEC May/June examinations, with English Language questions surfacing before the rescheduled paper
• Parents and education stakeholders have raised serious safety concerns as students in parts of Oyo and Osun states were forced to write papers late into the night
• Experts blame the recurrent exam leaks on deep-rooted systemic failures in Nigeria’s education sector, calling for urgent institutional reforms

The West African Examinations Council appears to be losing guard regarding the integrity of its exams, which continue to be exposed to the general public and particularly to its candidates.

Legit.ng gathered that almost all the papers written so far in the ongoing May/June exam have been seen days before the exams were written.

On Wednesday, May 28, 2025, the English Language theory exam, billed to be written by 9 a.m., was postponed till evening because it was reportedly leaked.

Notwithstanding, the postponed paper also got leaked.

Although the regional examination body attributed the postponement of the exam to logistics, malpractice, security, and socio-cultural factors, leakage of the exam questions played a prominent role.

Reactions have trailed the leakage that characterised the conduct of the ongoing 2025 May/June West African Examinations Council (WAEC) examinations, as the exam still leaked despite the postponement to reprint new questions.

Parents, teachers, and analysts believe that WAEC should do better in the next examinations because the performance this year is a culmination of systemic faults that have been condoned over the years.

WAEC postpones exams after questions got leaked

Legit.ng gathered that the postponed exam started at different times across Oyo and Osun States.

A source who confided in our correspondent said:

"The Paper 2 was supposed to hold this morning by 9 a.m. but we started at 4:45 p.m.

If an exam could start at about 5 p.m. in Ibadan North, which is very close to the WAEC office, you can imagine when they would start at distant places like Oke-Ogun and Ibarapa.

The Paper 3, the Test of Orals, which our students wrote in the morning — the students in Ogbomoso wrote it around 2 p.m."

Parents raise concerns over candidates' safety

At Lagelu and Akinyele Local Government Areas of Oyo State, exams lingered until late in the evening.

This made parents raise concerns over the safety and security of the candidates.

A parent who spoke with our reporter on Wednesday night revealed that postponement of the exam put the lives of innocent students in danger, especially during this period.

Some parents were apprehensive due to the unusual extension to which the exam was subjected.

Leaked WAEC exam easily accessible

The leakage of WAEC exams has reached an embarrassing point.

A school teacher in Ibadan narrated the porosity of WAEC exams in past years, noting that the integrity of the exam is fast-eroding.

Another teacher disclosed:

"Today's English exam was postponed from morning till afternoon, but it is sad that the exam still got leaked to the students before the evening when it was eventually held."

Chemistry, Physics papers leaked

Chemistry, which was scheduled to hold on May 22, 2025, had been seen by many students and some teachers as of May 21. It was the same for Physics.

Legit.ng gathered that some teachers, especially in public schools in Oyo State, had seen the exam questions being paraded and solved by the students before the examinations were held.

For Chemistry, which they wrote on May 22, the question had been seen by the students on May 21, and for Physics, the exam had been seen a day before.

Like JAMB, like WAEC: Regional exam body tenders apology

In what appears like JAMB's damage control, the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has apologised for the late writing of the English Language exam.

A statement by the Acting Head of Public Affairs Department of WAEC stated that the council encountered some challenges while administering the examination.

WAEC maintained that it upholds its integrity despite the challenges.

The statement read in part:

“While maintaining the integrity and security of our examination, we faced considerable challenges primarily due to our major aim of preventing leakage of any paper.

We recognise the importance of timely conduct of examinations and the impact of this decision on candidates, their schools, and parents, and we sincerely apologise for any inconveniences caused,” WAEC stated.

“In spite of our best efforts, we encountered logistical hurdles, security concerns, and socio-cultural factors that negatively influenced our operations.”

Expert blames the challenge on poor institutions

Commenting on the matter, an educationist, Dr. Nurudeen Adegbore of the Faculty of Education, University of Ibadan, blamed the challenge on the systemic rot in the Nigerian educational system.

Dr. Adegbore, while expressing disappointment over the way WAEC and other similar examinations are being conducted in Nigeria, opined that education has been relegated in the country, while those running it are only doing so for financial gain.

Adegbore said:

"Those who leaked the WAEC questions are paid heavily by some parents, and once it gets to one person, it will be shared (to others)."

The educationist believed that:

"When you are in a system where the only thing you're set to achieve is economic gain... In the past, those in the education sector were not there because of money."

He argued that the system has been so undermined that those who work in the education sector "are poorly remunerated."

Student who failed WAEC multiple times finally graduates

Earlier, Legit.ng reported that Abdazeez Ridwan, a Biomedical Engineering student who struggled for years to secure university admission after multiple failed attempts, had finally graduated with First Class honours from Abiola Ajimobi Technical University, formerly known as First Technical University, Ibadan.

Ridwan completed his five-year academic programme with a Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 4.64 out of 5.00, successfully earning 66 A’s out of 98 courses across 10 semesters and 204 course units.

Source: Legit.ng