The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) announced on Tuesday that it had withheld the results of 7,192 candidates who participated in the 2023 West African Senior School Certificate Examination for private candidates across Nigeria due to various cases of examination malpractice, as reported by SaharaReporters.
According to WAEC, out of the 80,904 candidates who took the examination, 39,790 were male and 41,114 were female, representing 49.18% and 50.82% of the total candidates, respectively.
Moyosola F. Adesina, acting Head of Public Affairs for WAEC Nigeria, stated in a release that the withheld results accounted for 8.89% of the total number of candidates who sat for the examination. These cases are currently under investigation, and reports will be presented to the appropriate Council Committee for review. Decisions regarding the withheld results will be communicated directly to the affected candidates upon the conclusion of the investigations.
Of the candidates who participated in the examination, 78,419 (96.93%) had their results fully processed and released, while 2,485 candidates (3.07%) are awaiting the processing of some subjects due to errors traceable to them. WAEC assured that efforts are underway to expedite the processing to ensure timely release of all affected candidates’ results.
Furthermore, WAEC disclosed that 46,267 candidates (57.19%) obtained credit and above in a minimum of five subjects, with or without English Language and/or Mathematics. Additionally, 35,830 candidates (44.29%) achieved credit and above in a minimum of five subjects, including English Language and Mathematics.
The examination body emphasized that performance comparisons between this examination and the WASSCE for School Candidates should consider the differences in the number of subjects taken. While school candidates are obligated to sit for eight or nine subjects, private candidates have the flexibility to register for fewer subjects to address specific deficiencies.
WAEC clarified that the examination, for private candidates, serves as a remedial opportunity rather than a comprehensive assessment. Therefore, any comparisons should account for this distinction.
The examination was conducted between October 27, 2023, and December 20, 2023, in Nigeria, with coordination and marking conducted at seven venues across the country. A total of 4,162 examiners participated in the coordination and marking exercise.
The entry figure for the 2023 examination witnessed a 10.07% increase compared to 2022, with 85,600 candidates registered for the examination across 568 centers nationwide.
