…English and Mathematics:
641,631 candidates (32.89%) were female
558,883 candidates (28.65%) were male
The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has officially released the results of the 2026 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for School Candidates as girls top boys in English and Mathematics.
The release brings to an end weeks of anxious waiting for nearly two million candidates across Nigeria and parts of West Africa, who sat for the examination. 
The examination body announced the development on Wednesday through its official X (formerly Twitter) account, directing candidates to generate their result-checking PIN and access their results online.
“UPDATE: 2026 WASSCE (SC) results have been released. Generate your PIN at http://waec.org and check your results now on http://waecdirect.org,” WAEC stated.
Speaking during a press conference in Lagos, the Head of the WAEC Nigeria National Office, Dr. Amos Dangut, disclosed that the council withheld the results of 167,486 candidates, representing 8.59 per cent of those who sat for the computer-based 2026 WASSCE for school candidates.
According to him, the affected results were withheld over alleged cases of examination malpractice and will remain under investigation until the council concludes its review.
WAEC revealed that 1,959,668 candidates from 24,207 secondary schools registered for the examination conducted across Nigeria, Benin Republic, Côte d’Ivoire and Equatorial Guinea.
Out of those registered, 1,950,726 candidates eventually sat for the examination.
The council disclosed that 1,834,695 candidates, representing 94.05 per cent, have had their results completely processed and released.
However, the results of 116,031 candidates (5.95 per cent) are still being processed and will be released once the exercise is completed.
Over 1.2 Million Candidates Scored Five Credits Including English And Mathematics
WAEC’s statistics show that 1,200,514 candidates, representing 61.54 per cent of those who sat the examination, obtained credits and above in at least five subjects, including English Language and Mathematics.
Meanwhile, 1,687,378 candidates (86.50 per cent) secured credits in at least five subjects, irrespective of whether English Language and Mathematics were included.
Despite the strong overall performance, the council noted a slight decline in the number of candidates who achieved the benchmark five credits including English and Mathematics.
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Compared to the 2025 examination, the pass rate dropped by 1.42 percentage points.
Female Candidates Outperformed Male Candidates
WAEC also released a gender breakdown of the successful candidates.
Of the 1,200,514 candidates who obtained five credits, including English and Mathematics:
641,631 candidates (32.89%) were female
558,883 candidates (28.65%) were male
Overall participation also showed that female candidates slightly outnumbered their male counterparts.
According to the council:
997,267 females (51.12%) participated in the examination.
953,459 males (48.88%) sat for the examination.
With the release of the results, thousands of candidates are expected to begin admission processing into tertiary institutions, while those whose results were withheld will await the outcome of WAEC’s ongoing investigation into alleged examination malpractice.
