WAEC Releases 2025, Only 38.32% Pass with Credits in English & Maths as Performance Drops Sharply

The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) announced the release of the May/June 2025 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) results on Monday, reporting a significant decline in overall candidate performance.

At a press briefing in Lagos, Dr. Amos Dangut, WAEC’s Head of National Office, revealed that just 754,545 out of 1,969,313 candidates (38.32%) achieved credits in five or more subjects, including English Language and Mathematics—a sharp drop from the 72.12% pass rate recorded in 2024.

Dr. Dangut blamed the decline on poor preparation, exam malpractice, and disruptions during the eight-week examination period, including delays that forced some candidates to write papers late at night.

A breakdown of the results showed that 976,787 male and 992,526 female candidates sat for the exam; 192,089 results (9.75%) are witheld under investigation for malpractice, including phone smuggling and leaked papers.

Also, WAEC stated that the results of candidates sponsored by indebted states will be withheld until fees are paid.

According to the examination body, the malpractice rates slightly decreased (from 11.92% to 9.75%) due to Computer-Based Testing in core subjects.

Special needs candidates accounted for 178 with different disabilities and received their results.

Dr. Dangut highlighted rising costs (fuel, printing) and social media-driven fraud (“expo” scams) as major hurdles.

Despite this, digital certificates are now available online, with physical copies to follow, he said.

The examination body directs candidates to check their results via [WAEC’s portal](http://www.waec.org) using their Smart ID Cards.

WAEC thanked the government, schools, and security agencies for their support.

About The Author

Dele Fashomi

Dele Fashomi, seasoned journalist and communication teacher, is a holder of Master of Arts degree in Communication and Language Arts from the University of Ibadan in 1992/93.

Earlier, he had bagged a Bachelor degree from the same university in 1984, after which he proceeded to the Nigerian Institute of Journalism, Lagos, in 1990, for a postgraduate diploma in Journalism.

He had done many courses in communication, including the EU-BBC Editing Course in 2002.

Mr. Fashomi combines effectively the practice, research and teaching of communication. And to date, he has published two academic works in communication: Issues in Communication Technology and Policy (2010) and Economic and Social Issues in Advertising and PR (2013).

He had his first break in the Nigerian media in Concord Newspapers in 1990 and today, he has over two and half decades experience earned in several newspapers.

He has been part of many start-ups, such as The Republic (1987), The Comet (1999), The Anchor 2001 – 2002; Sun Newspapers (2003); Westerner newsmagazine (2005 – 2010) as Editor; National Life (2011) as Sunday Editor, and Newswatch Newspapers (2012- 2016) as Daily Editor.

Dele Fashomi is now the Publisher/Editor-in-Chief of Newstide247.com newspaper online, which he started in July 2015. He is also into biography writing, with many books in his trail, some of which he wrote alone and one he co- authored with his mentor, Mr Dare Babarinsa, entitled:  Olabiyi Durojaiye – DARE TO BE DiFFERENT. He also guided and collaborated with Pa Olatunji Odusanya in writing his autobiography – AGAINST ALL ODDS. There are many other books in the works under his pen.

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