By Kazeem Ugbodaga
The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has announced a significant revision to the 2025 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) results, raising the pass rate from 38.32% to 62.9% after correcting a critical marking error.
The updated figures, revealed by Dr. Amos Josiah Dangut, Head of WAEC’s Nigeria National Office, during a press briefing at the council’s headquarters in Yaba, Lagos, on Friday, reflect a substantial improvement for the 1,969,313 candidates who sat for the exam.
Initially, WAEC reported that only 754,545 candidates, or 38.32%, secured credits in at least five subjects, including English Language and Mathematics, the benchmark for university admission.
Following widespread consultations and an internal review, the council identified errors in the marking of the English Language Objective Test (Paper 3), caused by a wrongly assigned serialized code file from service providers.
“The HNO, who expressed that WAEC felt sorry for the previous error, which was caused by the mistakes from the team of service providers that marked the Objective part of the English Language examination,” Dangut said, acknowledging the oversight.
The revised results now show that 1,239,884 candidates, representing 62.9%, achieved credits and above in five subjects, including English and Mathematics, with 657,819 (53.05%) female and 582,065 (46.95%) male candidates.
This marks a significant leap from the initial figures, though still a 9.16% decline from 2024’s 72.12% pass rate.
He noted that the regional exam body was deeply sorry for the errors, urging candidates to check the fresh results 48 hours later,” Dangut added, emphasizing WAEC’s commitment to transparency.
The correction follows public outcry and posts on X, where users like @DeborahToluwase noted the initial 38% pass rate was reevaluated after concerns from parents and candidates. Influencer marketing courses
WAEC’s swift response, aided by its new digital scoring system, underscores efforts to restore confidence.
Candidates can access updated results on www.waecdirect.org within 48 hours, with digital certificates available shortly after.
Despite the improvement, 191,053 results (9.7%) remain withheld due to malpractice investigations, a slight decrease from 2024’s 11.92%.
