By Boluwatife Oshadiya | August 5, 2026
Key Points
- WAEC withheld 167,486 WASSCE results, representing 8.59% of candidates, over alleged examination malpractice
- A total of 1.2 million candidates obtained at least five credits, including English Language and Mathematics, representing a 61.54% pass rate
- WAEC warned that candidates sponsored by indebted state governments will not receive their results until outstanding payments are settled
Main Story
The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has withheld the results of 167,486 candidates who sat the 2026 Computer-Based West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for School Candidates over alleged examination malpractice.
The withheld results account for 8.59% of the 1,950,726 candidates who sat the examination, marking an improvement from the 9.7% malpractice rate recorded in the 2025 examination.
Announcing the release of the results in Lagos on Wednesday, Head of the WAEC National Office, Dr. Amos Dangut, attributed the withheld results to several forms of malpractice, including the continued use of mobile phones inside examination halls despite an existing ban and organised cheating 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,” Dr. Amos Dangut, Head, WAEC National Office, said.
According to WAEC, 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 eventually sat for the papers conducted between April 24 and June 19, 2026.
Performance data released by the council showed that 1,200,514 candidates, representing 61.54% of those who sat the examination, obtained credits and above in at least five subjects, including English Language and Mathematics. Meanwhile, 1,687,378 candidates, or 86.50%, earned credits in at least five subjects irrespective of English Language and Mathematics.
Female candidates accounted for 641,631 of those who obtained five credits including English and Mathematics, while 558,883 successful candidates were male.
WAEC also disclosed that 1,834,695 candidates, representing 94.05%, had their results fully processed and released, while the results of 116,031 candidates remain under processing.
The council said 1,213 candidates with special needs participated in the examination, including visually impaired, hearing-impaired, physically challenged, and spastic or mentally challenged candidates.
What’s Being Said
Dr. Dangut said supervisors and invigilators found aiding examination malpractice had been arrested and would face disciplinary action through the appropriate state ministries of education.
He also announced that the 2026 WASSCE featured several technological improvements, including the Digital Examiner Mark System to speed up result processing, serialised question papers aimed at reducing malpractice, and a new portal allowing candidates to generate e-PINs directly for checking their results.
What’s Next
- Candidates whose results were withheld will undergo WAEC’s investigation process before final decisions are taken on their status.
- WAEC said results belonging to candidates sponsored by state governments indebted to the council will remain unreleased until the outstanding financial obligations are settled.
- Candidates whose results have been released can access them through WAEC’s result-checking platform using the newly introduced e-PIN system.
The Bottom Line: While the proportion of withheld results declined compared with 2025, the continued prevalence of examination malpractice underscores the challenges facing Nigeria’s secondary school examination system. WAEC’s expanded use of digital tools and tighter examination controls signals a stronger push to protect the credibility of the WASSCE while improving the speed and integrity of result processing.
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