BREAKING: WAEC Releases 2021 WASSCE Results

The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has released the results of candidates who wrote this year’s West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).

The Head of the Nigeria National Office, Mr Patrick Areghan, who made the announcement on Monday, November 22, said that 1,573,849 candidates registered for the examination from 19,425 recognised secondary schools in the country.

Areghan added that 1,560,261 candidates sat the examination and 65.24% of them clinched 5 credits in English Language and Mathematics subjects.

He said: “The examination, which was an international one, took place simultaneously throughout the five-member countries of the Council – The Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone, using the same International Timetable.

“The examination spanned seven weeks, between August 16 and October 8, 2021. Throughout the period, we were faced with serious security challenges in the South East (IPOB and ESN sit-at-home order) and banditry, kidnapping, insurgency, etc, in the north and other parts of the country. All these, coupled with the continuous effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic, made the whole exercise a Herculean one.

“In conducting the examination, we were guided by the various measures/ protocols rolled out by the Federal and various State governments, aimed at checking the spread of the Corona Virus Disease. The Coordination of Examiners and Marking of Candidates’ Scripts took place at Eighty-Five (85) traditional and three (3) e-Marking Venues throughout the country. A total of Seventy Seven Thousand, Three Hundred and Sixty-Eight (77,368) Examiners participated in the coordination and marking exercise.

“The examination ended on October 8, 2021, and today, Monday, November 22, 2021 – 45 days after the conduct of the last paper, we are releasing the result! This is a record time, taking into consideration the fact that we lost a week to insecurity, during the marking exercise in the South East, occasioned by the heightened tension before and during the Anambra Gubernatorial election.

“It is, therefore, not true, as you can see, that WAEC delayed the release of the results of the WASSCE (SC) 2021 as is being speculated in some quarters. We have kept to our promise, in spite of all odds. We should be praised rather than being vilified. Nothing can be faster or earlier than what we have done. We do not release results without marking the scripts and processing the scores. We are grateful to the examiners for doing a good job within the stipulated period.

“A total of One Million, Five Hundred and Seventy-Three Thousand, Eight Hundred and Forty-Nine (1,573,849) candidates registered for the examination from Nineteen Thousand, Four Hundred and Twenty Five (19,425) recognised secondary schools in the country. Of the number that registered for the examination, One Million, Five Hundred and Sixty Thousand, Two Hundred and Sixty One (1,560,261) candidates sat the examination.

“The examination was also administered to candidates from some schools in the Benin Republic and Cote d’Ivoire, where the Nigeria curriculum for Senior Secondary School is being used. Schools in Equatorial Guinea could not present candidates for the examination due to logistic challenges posed by COVID-19. ” 

Breakdown of the results

Mr Areghan explained that: “I also wish to report that a total of One Thousand, Five Hundred and Thirty-Nine (1,539) candidates, with varying degrees of Special Needs, registered for the examination. Out of this number, Four Hundred and Sixty (460) were visually challenged, Five Hundred and Eighty-Two (582) had impaired hearing; Three Hundred and Sixty Two (362) were spastic cum mentally challenged and Fifty Nine (59) were physically challenged. All these candidates were adequately provided for in the administration of the examination. The results of these candidates have been processed and are also being released along with those of other candidates.

“Of the total number of One Million, Five Hundred and Sixty Thousand, Two Hundred and Sixty One (1,560,261) candidates that sat the examination, Seven Hundred and Eighty-Four Thousand, Six Hundred and Seventy-Seven (784,677) were males while Seven Hundred and Seventy-Five Thousand, Five Hundred and Eighty-Four (775,584) were females, representing 50.29% and 49.71%, respectively.

“Out of the total number of candidates that sat the examination in Nigeria, One Million, Two Hundred and Fifty-Six Thousand, Nine Hundred and Ninety (1,256,990) candidates, representing 80.56% have their results fully processed and released while Three Hundred and Three Thousand, Two Hundred and Seventy One (303,271) candidates, representing 19.44% have a few of their subjects still being processed due to some issues being resolved. Efforts are, however, being made to speedily complete the processing to enable all the affected candidates to get their results fully processed and released within the next week.

Analysis of results

Responding to questions on the performance of students at this year’s WASSCE, the Head of WAEC reiterated that collective efforts of all stakeholders were responsible for the 89.62 per cent obtained credit and above in a minimum of any five (5) subjects (i.e with or without English Language and/ or Mathematics.

He gave the breakdown as follows: “The analysis of the statistics of the performance of candidates in the examination shows that out of the One Million, Five Hundred and Sixty Thousand, Two Hundred and Sixty One (1,560,261) candidates that sat the examination,

“One Million, Three Hundred and Ninety-Eight Thousand, Three Hundred and Seventy (1,398,370) candidates, representing 89.62%, obtained credit and above in a minimum of any five (5) subjects (i.e with or without English Language and/ or Mathematics;

“One Million, Two Hundred and Seventy Four Thousand, Seven Hundred and Eighty Four (1,274,784) candidates, representing 81.7%, obtained credits and above in a minimum of five (5) subjects, including English Language and Mathematics.”

The ratio between male and female

He said, “Of this number, Six Hundred and Thirty Thousand, One Hundred and Thirty-Eight (630,138) i.e. 49.43% were male candidates, while Six Hundred and Forty-Four Thousand, Six Hundred and Forty-Six (644,646) i.e. 50.57% were female candidates.

“The percentage of candidates in this category in the WASSCE for School Candidates, 2020, that is, those who obtained credit and above in a minimum of five (5) subjects, including English Language and Mathematics, was 65.24%. Thus, there is an appreciable 16.46% improvement in performance in this regard.

“The results of One Hundred and Seventy Thousand, One Hundred and Forty-Six (170,146) candidates, representing 10.9% of the total number of candidates that sat the examination, are being withheld in connection with various reported cases of examination malpractice.”

This comes a few weeks after the National Examination Council (NECO) released the results of the Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (SSSCE) conducted nationwide in July.