In an unprecedented move, the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has temporarily withdrawn the 2025 WASSCE results for school candidates following the discovery of technical errors tied to its newly introduced exam security system.
The announcement was made Thursday, August 7, by Moyosola Adesina, Acting Head of Public Affairs at WAEC, through an official statement that has sparked widespread concern among candidates, parents, and educators.
“As part of our efforts to curb examination malpractice, the Council adopted a paper serialization innovation already in use by a national examination body,” the statement read.
“This method was implemented in Mathematics, English Language, Biology, and Economics. However, a post-release internal audit uncovered technical bugs that have affected the integrity of the released results.”
What Went Wrong?
WAEC’s serialization system was meant to make cheating more difficult by scrambling the order of questions across scripts. But instead of delivering increased fairness, the new system has triggered result distortions, prompting the Council to act swiftly.
What Candidates Should Do:
WAEC has advised all candidates who have already checked their results to recheck after 24 hours, as the Council works to correct the issue.
“We extend our deep and sincere apologies to all affected candidates and the general public,” the Council said.
“We are working with urgency and transparency to resolve the matter within 24 hours.”
A Crisis of Confidence?
The announcement comes on the heels of widespread backlash over mass failure rates in English and Mathematics, with many already questioning the credibility of the 2025 exams. The discovery of glitches in the result release may only deepen concerns about the effectiveness and preparedness of WAEC’s technological shift.
WAEC’s Assurance:
Despite the setback, WAEC insists it remains committed to excellence, fairness, and transparency, urging Nigerians to maintain confidence in its processes.
