Nigeria’s 2025 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) performance is lowest in a decade, echoing analysts’ concerns over the need for education reforms.
The 2025 WASSCE results were released in Lagos on Monday, with 38.32 percent of candidates obtaining credits and above in five subjects, including English Language and Mathematics.
A total of 1,969,313 candidates sat for the examination across 23,554 schools, out of which 754,545 candidates obtained a minimum of five credits including English and Mathematics. This represents a 33.8 percent decline from the 72.12 percent recorded in 2024.
The last time Nigeria recorded such low scores were in 2014 when merely 31.28 percent of the candidates obtained credit in at least five subjects, including English and math.
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In 2016, 52.97 percent of candidates obtained credit in five subjects, including English and math. The figure rose to 59.22 percent in 2017 but fell to 50 percent in 2018.
In 2019, the number rose to 64.18 percent, increasing further to 65.24 percent in 2020.
The WASSCE candidates performed creditably well in 2021, hitting 81.7 percent ‘credit’ rate in five subjects, including English and math.
The figure fell slightly to 76.36 percent in 2022 but rose again to 79.81 percent in 2023.
It also fell slightly to 72.12 percent in 2024.
Amos Dangut, WAEC’s head of Nigeria Office, who announced the release at a press briefing in Lagos on Monday, said the decline in performance was due to the Council’s new strategy of serialising objective test papers in core subjects such as Mathematics, English, Biology, and Economics.
“This approach drastically reduced the incidence of collusion and made examination malpractice more difficult,” he said.
“We observed a dip in the performance of objective papers, but essay papers remained consistent with previous years. It’s a strong signal that candidates must rely on their own preparation,” he added.
Experts worried
Experts are worried about the failure rate in the 2025 WASSCE exams, calling for reforms in the education system entirely.
“We need reforms and total overhaul of the education system in Nigeria,” said Titus Ugboma, principal of a secondary school in Lagos.
“We have a proliferation of private schools who engage unqualified teachers to handle critical subjects. Secondly, how many of our schools have good libraries and laboratories? When those who teach English and mathematics in several schools are people with O’levels or OND, what then do you expect?” he asked.
Joy Umana, an Onitsha-based secondary school teacher, blamed the trend on the lack of seriousness on the part of both the government and the candidates.
“Many candidates aren’t interested in studying; they are more focused on paying people to assist them during exams. The government knows some of these ‘miracle’ centres but still allows them to perpetrate malpractices,” she argued.
She noted that lack of equipment in schools and qualified manpower are putting the kibosh on stakeholders’ efforts to improve the performance of candidates in public exams.
Kayode Abimbola, an education analyst, urged the government to tighten the approvals for the establishment of private schools while also ensuring that qualified teachers are deployed to government schools.
“We must ensure that only qualified schools are granted approvals. The government must also ensure that government schools are properly funded, with qualified teachers deployed to teach major subjects like English and mathematics. There is rot in both public and private schools.”
