WAEC withdraws licences of 574 schools over exam malpractices

The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) Nigeria has withdrawn the licences of 574 schools found guilty of involvement in examination malpractices.

According to the examination body, these schools will be barred from conducting exams, including the upcoming 2025 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), which is scheduled to begin on Thursday, April 24, 2025.

This development was announced by the Head of WAEC’s National Office, Dr. Amos Dangut, during a press briefing held Thursday at the council’s headquarters in Lagos. Dangut confirmed that WAEC has submitted the list of the affected schools to the federal government.

“This year, we have shared with them a total of 574 schools that have their recognition withdrawn and that is also going to be the same for all examining bodies… So, these are those that have got their license revoked as far as the examination centre is concerned. So we will not conduct examinations there. We don’t know them as far as conducting examinations,” Dangut said.

The 2025 WASSCE will run from April 24 to June 20, 2025. A total of 1,973,253 candidates from 23,554 schools are registered for the examination, with 979,228 male candidates and 994,025 female candidates. This marks an increase of 158,627 registrations compared to the previous year.

Dr. Dangut highlighted WAEC’s technological advancements, including the introduction of the first-ever Computer-Based West African Senior School Certificate Examination (CB-WASSCE) for school candidates in 2025.

“As an organisation that believes in the use of modern Information and Communications Technology (ICT) to solve myriads of problems as well as improve service delivery to the Nigerian child, the Council has introduced its maiden Computer-based West African Senior School Certificate Examination (CB-WASSCE) for School Candidates, 2025.”

He also noted a new anti-malpractice measure: candidates will now receive varied questions under the same exam code to ensure academic integrity.

“It will interest you to know that from this year, two candidates will not have the same questions on each number. We have adopted this innovation for some of the WASSCE codes. This initiative is part of the paradigm shift in the education sector… geared towards upholding the academic and moral integrity of the National Policy on Education and in line with the vision of the Federal Ministry of Education,” he stated.

Addressing concerns around security during the examination period, Dangut assured that WAEC is working closely with the police across various states to ensure a safe and smooth exam process.