…stakeholders want independent probe, cite CBT glitches, serialisation
The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) is facing mounting pressure from school administrators and education stakeholders over the credibility of the 2026 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) results, amid allegations of grading irregularities
Several school heads say students who performed strongly in other standardised tests, particularly the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), were awarded grades in WASSCE that did not reflect their academic standing, reviving questions about the reliability of the council’s marking and serialisation processes.
Sam Abdulazeez, a school director, told journalists that his school had recorded a steady drop in WASSCE performance in 2025 and 2026, even as staffing, facilities and examination preparation improved.
The school, which has presented candidates for WASSCE since 2017, previously posted strong results in Mathematics and English Language, with all 45 candidates entered for Mathematics in 2024 obtaining A1.
That trend reversed after CBT and serialisation were introduced, he said. Of 69 candidates the school presented for the 2026 UTME, more than 30 scored above 300, and none scored below 200, a performance he attributed to 22 mock UTME sittings held to familiarise students with the computer-based format.
Yet only three or four candidates earned A1 in Mathematics in WASSCE, down from a near-universal pass rate in previous years. Results in English Language followed a similar pattern, with most candidates receiving B2 and B3 grades and only a handful of credits recorded.
The educationist emphasised that the disparity coincided with technical problems the school experienced during a WAEC-supervised mock CBT exercise shortly before the main examination, when systems reportedly failed to connect to the council’s servers on two consecutive attempts.
He said WAEC subsequently permitted the school to sit a paper-based exam instead, despite having already been listed on the CBT platform.
He linked similar concerns to the 2025 WASSCE cycle, alleging that grades on the results portal appeared to shift after publication, with some candidates’ scores moving from B to A1, and from C to B, prompting him to delay releasing this year’s results in anticipation of a comparable revision that did not materialise.
Abdulazeez also questioned whether the use of multiple exam paper versions, known as serialisation, may have contributed to the anomalies, noting that the steepest declines were concentrated in subjects that use serialised papers, including Mathematics, English Language, Economics and Biology, while subjects without serialisation showed no similar pattern.
A second school administrator, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said students with strong UTME scores and clean academic records were awarded D7, E8 and F9 in core subjects. Two of the affected candidates, who had already secured admission to the University of Ibadan, were recorded as having failed Mathematics and English Language.
Both administrators, along with education advocates, are calling on WAEC to open an independent review of the 2026 results. Abdulazeez dismissed suggestions that the decline reflects reduced student preparedness following the shift to CBT, pointing out that JAMB has administered CBT for years without comparable disruption to results.
Fola Adekeye, an educationist, urged WAEC to safeguard the integrity of its processes proactively rather than reacting to public criticism, stressing that examination outcomes shape students’ access to higher education and career paths, and that examining bodies should not wait for outcry before addressing complaints.
WAEC is yet to respond publicly to the specific allegations raised by the affected schools.
Recall that BusinessDay reported earlier that the Initiative for School Excellence and Education Foundation threatened legal action against WAEC over the 2026 Computer-Based West African Senior School Certificate Examination (CB-WASSCE) results, demanding an independent verification and transparency in the review process.
The foundation, through Zuriel Law Practice, represented by Chinwe Onubugo, demanded that WAEC should, within 14 days of receipt of its letter, confirm that all electronic and documentary records relating to the 2026 CB-WASSCE have been preserved in their original and unaltered form.
However, WAEC had also reaffirmed its commitment to preserving the integrity of its assessment processes and safeguarding the interests of every candidate, and advised the general public to refrain from unverified social media speculation.
Moyosola Adesina, the head of public affairs at WAEC, Yaba, Lagos, disclosed this in a statement on behalf of the head of the national office.
“The council has observed with concern the recent wave of public commentary, particularly from content creators and social media commentators, questioning the accuracy and credibility of the recently released results of the WASSCE for School Candidates, 2026.
“While WAEC welcomes constructive scrutiny as part of its accountability to candidates, parents, schools, and the wider public, it wishes to state unequivocally that this year’s results were produced through the same rigorous, transparent, and quality-assured processes that have guided the council’s operations for decades,” she said.
