The West African Examinations Council has announced that 73.79% of candidates who sat for the 2024 West African Senior School Certificate Examination obtained credit and above in a minimum of five subjects, with or without English Language and Mathematics.
This announcement was made by the Head of Nigeria Office of WAEC, Dr. Amos Dangut, during a press briefing on Monday.
Dr. Dangut also revealed that WAEC had withheld the results of 215,267 candidates, representing 11.92% of the 1,805,216 candidates who took the examination, due to various cases of examination malpractice.
The results are currently under investigation, and final decisions will be communicated to the affected candidates through their respective schools.
The 2024 WASSCE, which spanned seven weeks and six days from April 30 to June 24, saw 1,301,941 candidates (72.12%) achieve credit passes in at least five subjects, including English Language and Mathematics.
A total of 1,685,889 candidates, representing 93.39%, had their results fully processed and released, while 119,327 candidates (6.61%) had one or more subjects still being processed due to unresolved issues.
Dr. Dangut noted that the percentage of withheld results in 2024 was 4.37% lower than the 16.29% recorded in the 2023 WASSCE for school candidates.
He expressed concern over the increasing use of cell phones in examination halls and organized cheating in some schools, which contributed to the malpractice cases.
“The increasing use of cell phones in the examination hall, despite the existing ban, and organized cheating in some schools are other nagging issues,” Dr. Dangut said.
“All the cases are being investigated, and reports of the investigations will be presented to the appropriate committee of the council for consideration and final decisions.”
Candidates affected by the withheld results can seek redress for their malpractice cases through WAEC’s website, Dr. Dangut added.
Of the 1,805,216 candidates who sat for the examination in Nigeria, 896,894 were male and 908,322 were female, representing 49.68% and 50.32% of the total, respectively. The examination was conducted across four WAEC member countries: Nigeria, Gambia, Sierra Leone, and Liberia.
During the briefing, Dr. Dangut also addressed the issue of states that are still indebted to WAEC. He warned that the results of candidates from these states would not be released until the outstanding payments were made.
“I need not restate the fact that the results of candidates sponsored by states indebted to the council will not be released now until payment is made,” Dr. Dangut stated.
“We appeal to the concerned to do so to enable the affected schools and candidates to access their results.”
