The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has released the results of the 2025 Second Series of the Computer-Based West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for private candidates, showing an 11.47 percentage-point decline in performance compared to 2024.
The announcement was made in a statement issued Monday night by WAEC’s Head of Public Affairs, Moyosola Adesina.
WAEC said 42.17 per cent of candidates secured credit passes in at least five subjects, including English Language and Mathematics.
The figure represents a drop from the 53.64 per cent recorded in 2024, while 44.29 per cent achieved the same benchmark in 2023.
“The percentage of candidates in this category in the 2023 and 2024 – Second Series was 44.29 per cent and 53.64 per cent, respectively. Thus, there is a marginal decrease of 11.47 per cent in performance in this regard,” the statement partly read.
Out of the 65,752 candidates who sat the examination, 27,727 obtained five credits, including English Language and Mathematics.
The council noted that results from private candidates should not be directly compared with those of school candidates, as private examinations involve individuals outside the formal school system.
WAEC also reported that 33,989 candidates, representing 51.69 per cent, earned credit passes in at least five subjects, with or without English Language and Mathematics.
A total of 69,604 candidates registered for the examination, marking a 1.8 per cent increase from the 68,342 recorded in 2024. Of those registered, 65,752 sat for the examination across 370 centres nationwide.
The council said 61,943 candidates, representing 94.21 per cent, have had their results fully processed and released.
However, results for 3,809 candidates (5.79 per cent) are still being processed due to errors linked to the candidates.
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“Efforts are being made to speedily complete the processing to enable all the affected candidates to get their results fully processed and released subsequently,” WAEC said.
WAEC added that 1,899 candidates, representing 2.89 per cent of those who sat the examination, had their results withheld over alleged examination malpractice.
“The cases are being investigated, and reports of the investigations will be presented to the appropriate Committee of the Council for determination. The Committee’s decisions will be communicated directly to the affected candidates thereafter,” the statement added.
On gender distribution, WAEC disclosed that 32,005 candidates (48.68 per cent) were male, while 33,747 (51.32 per cent) were female.
Among those who secured five credits including English and Mathematics, 13,416 (48.39 per cent) were male, while 14,311 (51.61 per cent) were female.
The examination was held between November 11 and December 17, 2025.
WAEC advised candidates to check their results online and proceed to access digital copies of their certificates, while hard copies can be requested through its certificate portal.
“Once again, we assure all our stakeholders of our dedication and commitment to excellent service delivery,” WAEC stated.