The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) says female candidates registered for the 2026 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) outnumbered their male counterparts, marking a shift in enrolment figures compared to the previous year.
Speaking on Monday at the council’s national office in Lagos, Amos Dangut, head of the Nigeria national office, said a total of 1,959,636 candidates from 24,207 schools enrolled for the examination.
According to him, 1,001,072 candidates, representing 51.08 percent of the total enrolment, are female, while 958,564 candidates, representing 48.92 percent, are male.
Dangut said the figures reflected an increase in female participation and a decline in the number of male candidates compared to the 2025 examination cycle.
“A total of 1,959,636 candidates from 24,207 schools enrolled for the examination. Of this number, 958,564 candidates, representing 48.92 per cent, are male, while 1,001,072 candidates, representing 51.08 per cent, are female,” he said.
“This reflects an increase in female participation and a decline in male participation compared to last year.”
The WAEC official said candidates would sit for 37 subjects comprising 97 papers, while about 29,000 senior secondary school teachers nominated by ministries of education nationwide would serve as supervisors during the examination.
Dangut said the 2026 WASSCE would commence on April 21 with practical papers and conclude on June 19.
He assured candidates that results would be released within 45 days after the final paper, while certificates of successful candidates would be printed and distributed to schools within 90 days.
According to him, digital copies of certificates would also be available through the WAEC digital certificate platform.
Dangut added that more schools adopted the computer-based examination format this year following its introduction in 2025.
He said the council also continued the serialisation of examination papers to strengthen the integrity of the process and reduce malpractice by ensurig that no two candidates receive the same sequence of questions.
2026 WAEC
