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The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has announced that candidates who sat the 2026 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) can now apply for their digital certificates 48 hours after checking their results online.

The announcement came on Wednesday as the examination body released the results of the 2026 Computer-Based WASSCE for school candidates.

Speaking at the official release of the results in Lagos, the Head of the WAEC National Office, Dr Amos Josiah Dangut, said candidates can apply for their digital certificates through the council’s online platform shortly after accessing their results.

The council also introduced a new portal that allows candidates to generate e-PINs directly to check their results, making the process easier.

WAEC said candidates can check their results within 12 hours on the result portal, while hard copies of certificates will be available within 90 days.

The examination body disclosed that 1,200,514 candidates, representing 61.54 per cent, obtained credits in at least five subjects, including English Language and Mathematics.

According to Dr Dangut, the performance is 1.42 per cent lower than that of 2025.

A total of 1,959,668 candidates from 24,207 schools registered for the examination conducted across Nigeria, the Benin Republic, Côte d’Ivoire and Equatorial Guinea.

Out of the registered candidates, 1,950,726 sat the examination.

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WAEC said 1,687,378 candidates, representing 86.50 per cent, obtained credits in at least five subjects, with or without English Language and Mathematics.

Among those who obtained five credits, including English and Mathematics, 558,883 were male, while 641,631 were female.

The council also said 953,459 males and 997,267 females sat the examination.

On result processing, WAEC said 1,834,695 candidates, representing 94.05 per cent, have had their results fully processed and released.

It added that the results of 116,031 candidates, representing 5.95 per cent, are still being processed.

WAEC also disclosed that 1,213 candidates with special needs registered for the examination. They include 137 visually impaired candidates, 491 with hearing impairment, 55 spastic and mentally challenged candidates, and 41 physically challenged candidates.

The council withheld the results of 167,486 candidates, representing 8.59 per cent, over examination malpractice. The figure is lower than the 9.7 per cent recorded in 2025.

“The increasing use of cell phones in the examination hall, in spite of the existing ban, and organized cheating in some schools, are other nagging issues,” Dr Dangut said.

He added that some supervisors and invigilators caught helping candidates cheat had been apprehended and would face sanctions through the State Ministries of Education.

Dr Dangut said the 2026 examination was the second Computer-Based WASSCE conducted for school candidates and the third and final results briefing he would deliver as Head of the WAEC National Office.

He said the council has also introduced the Digital Examiner Mark System (DEMS) to speed up the marking process and serialised question papers to reduce examination malpractice.

WAEC further announced that registration for the 2026 WASSCE for Private Candidates (Second Series) is ongoing at N37,500, while walk-in candidates are also allowed.