WAEC reports 61.5% pass rate in 2026 WASSCE, with 167,486 results withheld
The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) announced the release of the 2026 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) results for school candidates. Of the 1,950,726 candidates who sat the exam, 1,200,514 (61.54%) obtained credits in at least five subjects, including English Language and Mathematics.
Registrations totaled 1,959,668 candidates from 24,207 schools across Nigeria, the Benin Republic, Côte d’Ivoire and Equatorial Guinea. WAEC processed and released results for 1,834,695 candidates (94.05%); the remaining 116,031 (5.95%) are still being finalized. The council withheld 167,486 results (8.59%) over alleged examination malpractice, noting a drop to an eight‑year low thanks to expanded computer‑based testing and paper serialisation.
The council also warned that results for candidates sponsored by state governments with outstanding debts to WAEC will remain inaccessible until those obligations are settled. Digital certificates will be available within 48 hours of result checking.
Entities: 2026 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) · Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) · Benin Republic · Côte d’Ivoire · Dr. Amos Josiah Dangut · Ghana Education Service (GES) · Nigeria · West African Examinations Council (WAEC)
Claims
What the coverage asserts, and how well corroborated each claim is across sources.
- [● 3 SOURCES] WAEC released the 2026 WASSCE results on August 5, 2026. (WAEC press briefing)
- [● 3 SOURCES] 1,959,668 candidates registered from 24,207 schools across Nigeria, Benin Republic, Côte d’Ivoire and Equatorial Guinea. (WAEC registration data)
- [● 3 SOURCES] 1,950,726 candidates sat the 2026 WASSCE. (WAEC data)
- [● 4 SOURCES] 167,486 results (8.59%) were withheld due to alleged examination malpractice. (WAEC announcement)
- [● 3 SOURCES] 116,031 results (5.95%) remain under processing. (WAEC data)
- [● 2 SOURCES] Results for candidates sponsored by indebted state governments are withheld until debts are settled. (WAEC statement)
- [● 3 SOURCES] 94.05% of results (1,834,695) have been fully processed and released. (WAEC data)
- [● 4 SOURCES] 1,200,514 candidates (61.54%) obtained at least five credits, including English and Mathematics. (WAEC result data)