WASSCE 2026: Percentage of WAEC Candidates Who Failed 5 Key Subjects Emerges
- WAEC released the 2026 WASSCE results for school candidates on Wednesday, showing a 1.42% drop in performance compared to 2025
- Results of candidates from states with outstanding debts to WAEC were withheld pending payment by the defaulting governments
- Over 167,000 candidates had their results held back over alleged examination malpractice, with cases still under investigation
PAY ATTENTION: Find it fast with our new search feature at Legit.ng!
The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has released the results of the 2026 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for school candidates, with 61.54 per cent of those who sat the test obtaining at least five credits including English Language and Mathematics.
Dr Amos Dangut, Head of WAEC's Nigeria National Office, announced the outcome on Wednesday at a press briefing held at the council's headquarters in Yaba, Lagos.
Source: UGC
A total of 1,959,668 candidates from 24,207 schools registered for the examination, which ran from April 24 to June 19, 2026. Of those, 1,950,726 candidates eventually wrote the exam.
How candidates performed
Results for 1,834,695 candidates, representing 94.05 per cent of those who sat the examination, were fully processed and made available. The remaining 116,031 candidates, about 5.95 per cent, had results still being processed due to unresolved issues, with Dangut saying the council expected to conclude that work within a few days.
Of the 1,200,514 candidates who met the five-credit benchmark including English and Mathematics, 558,883 were male (28.65 per cent) and 641,631 were female (32.89 per cent). The overall pass rate marks a decline of 1.42 per cent from the 2025 results.
Candidates whose results were released and whose schools had no outstanding financial obligations can access their results on the WAEC portal within 12 hours of the announcement. Digital certificates will be available within 48 hours.
Withheld results and malpractice cases
WAEC confirmed that results for candidates sponsored by state governments that owe money to the council would remain unavailable until those debts are cleared. Dangut urged the affected state governments to settle their payments promptly to allow students access their results.
"The results of candidates who are sponsored by states indebted to the Council will not be released now until payment is made. We appeal to the concerned to do so to enable the affected schools and candidates to access their results," he said.
On examination malpractice, Dangut said the results of 167,486 candidates, representing 8.59 per cent of the total candidature, were withheld pending investigation into alleged infractions. The cases would be reviewed by the Nigeria Examinations Committee before any final action is taken.
He added that security operatives working alongside the council apprehended some individuals involved in malpractice during the examination period.
Supervisors and invigilators caught assisting candidates to cheat were also held accountable, with sanctions to be communicated through state Ministries of Education.
WAEC 2026: Female students take lead
Previously, Legit.ng reported that the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) released the results of its 2026 Computer-Based West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for school candidates, with female students pulling ahead of males in the combined credit pass rate for English Language and Mathematics.
The Head of WAEC's Nigeria National Office, Dr Amos Dangut, announced the results in Lagos on Wednesday, July 23, 2026, describing the briefing as his third and final official engagement in that role.
Source: Legit.ng
