The West African Examinations Council (WAEC), Nigeria, has announced that it has implemented measures to curb examination malpractice in the upcoming May/June 2025 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).
Speaking at a press briefing on Thursday, Dr. Amos Dangut, Head of WAEC’s Nigeria National Office, revealed that the council has introduced different versions of examination papers for candidates as part of its efforts to ensure exam integrity.
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He said,
From this year, two candidates will not have same questions on each number. We have adopted this innovation for some of the WASSCE codes.
Any candidate who chooses to write a paper other than the one assigned to him or her will be doing himself/herself a disservice and will bear the attendant consequences.
Dangut also announced the introduction of the council’s first-ever Computer-Based WASSCE (CB-WASSCE) for school candidates, describing it as part of a broader transformation in the education sector.
He clarified, however, that participation in the CB-WASSCE remains optional at this stage.
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According to him, variations of examination papers for the 2025 CB-WASSCE have already been preprinted based on candidates’ registration information. This approach, he added, is another strategic effort to tackle the issue of examination malpractice.
The CB-WASSCE 2025 is thrown open, so schools that are ready will be given the opportunity to choose between traditional pen and paper examinations or the newly introduced CB-WASSCE in the forthcoming WAEC.
The adoption of these current test administration techniques is geared towards upholding the academic and moral integrity of the National Policy on Education and in line with the vision of the Federal Ministry of Education.
The WAEC chief, therefore, urged parents and guardians to motivate their children to study hard, while also calling on school principals and teachers to educate students on the importance of avoiding all forms of examination malpractice.
The various state ministries of education are also urged to call their principals, teachers, and other officials serving as inspectors and/or supervisors to order.
Every candidate and examination functionary should familiarise themselves with the rules guiding the conduct of the examination as stipulated in the WAEC Syllabus and Guidelines for the conduct of examinations, issued to schools.
Erring schools whose candidates engage in mass cheating will be derecognised; erring officials will be adequately punished, while erring candidates will be sanctioned if found culpable.
Dangut reaffirmed the council’s commitment to working closely with the Nigeria Police Force, through the Inspector General of Police, as well as with various state governments, to ensure adequate security for the smooth and uninterrupted conduct of the examination.
The Council will decisively deal with examination malpractice of any kind as approved by the Nigeria Examinations Committee (NEC), being the highest decision-making organ of the Council that sits on examination matters in Nigeria.
The penalties for involvement in examination malpractice will always, without compromise, be meted out to erring candidates, supervisors, schools, amongst others.
Candidates should visit waec.estudy.ng to access the portal. WAEC has made available, via its e-learning portal, resources that will equip candidates’ with the requirements and expectations needed to write and pass their examinations.
Students’ performances in previous examinations are analysed with the aim of highlighting candidates’ weaknesses and proffering solutions to assist candidates’ learning.
Candidates should visit https://WAEConline.org.ng to access the portal.
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