The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) on Wednesday released the results of the 2026 Computer-Based West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for School Candidates, announcing that 1,200,514 candidates, representing 61.54 per cent, obtained credits in at least five subjects, including English Language and Mathematics.

The examination body, however, withheld the results of 167,486 candidates over alleged examination malpractice, warning that the increasing use of mobile phones in examination halls and organised cheating in some schools remained major threats to the integrity of the examinations.

Speaking at the official release of the results in Lagos, the Head of the Nigeria National Office of WAEC, Dr. Amos Josiah Dangut, disclosed that the overall performance represented a 1.42 per cent decline compared to the 2025 results.

According to him, 1,959,668 candidates from 24,207 schools across Nigeria, Benin Republic, Côte d’Ivoire and Equatorial Guinea registered for the examination, while 1,950,726 candidates eventually sat for the test.

Dangut said 1,687,378 candidates, representing 86.50 per cent, obtained credits and above in at least five subjects with or without English Language and Mathematics.

He added that of the 1,200,514 candidates who secured the benchmark of five credits including English and Mathematics, 558,883 (28.65 per cent) were male, while 641,631 (32.89 per cent) were female.

Overall, 953,459 male candidates, representing 48.88 per cent, and 997,267 female candidates, representing 51.12 per cent, participated in the examination.

On the processing of results, Dangut disclosed that 1,834,695 candidates, representing 94.05 per cent, had their results fully processed and released, while the results of 116,031 candidates, accounting for 5.95 per cent, were still being processed.

The WAEC boss also said 1,213 candidates with special needs registered for the examination. They included 137 visually impaired candidates, 491 with hearing impairment, 55 spastic and mentally challenged candidates, and 41 physically challenged candidates.

Addressing examination malpractice, Dangut revealed that the results of 167,486 candidates, representing 8.59 per cent of those who sat the examination, had been withheld over various infractions. He noted that the figure was lower than the 9.7 per cent recorded in the 2025 examination.

“The increasing use of cell phones in the examination hall, in spite of the existing ban, and organized cheating in some schools, are other nagging issues,” he said.

He further disclosed that some supervisors and invigilators found aiding examination malpractice had been apprehended and would face disciplinary action through the respective State Ministries of Education.

Dangut, who described the briefing as his third and final one as Head of WAEC’s Nigeria National Office, noted that the 2026 exercise marked the second edition of the Computer-Based WASSCE for school candidates.

He highlighted several innovations introduced by the council to improve the conduct of the examination, including the Digital Examiner Mark System (DEMS) for faster result processing, the serialisation of question papers to curb malpractice, and a new online portal that enables candidates to generate e-PINs directly for checking their results.