The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has said it is reviewing the 2025 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) results following widespread complaints of mass failure, particularly in core subjects.
In a statement released Thursday by the Council’s Public Affairs Department, WAEC confirmed that an internal audit revealed technical anomalies affecting the results of key subjects, including Mathematics, English Language, Biology, and Economics.
The Council attributed the issue to a system malfunction linked to a new security feature recently implemented to combat examination malpractice.
“WAEC sincerely regrets to inform the general public of technical issues discovered during the internal review of the recently released results of the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for School Candidates, (SC) 2025,” the statement read.
The Council disclosed that the anomalies were due to a newly introduced anti-malpractice measure involving paper serialisation, a method that randomises question arrangements across candidates’ scripts. The practice, already in use by other national examination bodies, was meant to enhance exam integrity but inadvertently contributed to result distortions.
“As part of our efforts to curb examination malpractice, the Council embarked on an innovation (paper serialisation) already deployed by a national examination body,” the statement explained. “It is also worth noting that this is in line with best practices in assessment. The paper serialisation was carried out in Mathematics, English Language, Biology and Economics. However, an internal post result release procedure revealed some technical bugs in the results.”
As a corrective measure, WAEC has temporarily suspended access to the result-checking portal while it works to address the glitches. The Council has urged candidates who had previously checked their results to revisit the portal after 24 hours for the updated outcome.
“The Council, being a responsive body that is sensitive to fairness and professionalism, has decided to urgently review and correct the technical glitches that led to the situation,” it said. “As a result, access to the WASSCE (SC) 2025 results has been temporarily denied on the result checker portal.”
“We extend our deep and sincere apologies to all affected candidates and the general public. We appreciate their patience and understanding as we work diligently to resolve this matter with transparency and urgency within the next twenty-four (24) hours,” the statement added.