WAEC Disowns Viral List of 151 Schools with Allegedly Withheld Results

The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has disclaimed a widely circulated document listing 151 secondary schools allegedly involved in examination malpractice during the May/June 2025 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).

Following the release of the 2025 WASSCE results on Monday, WAEC confirmed that results of 192,089 candidates, representing 9.75 per cent of the total, were withheld due to suspected involvement in various forms of malpractice. However, a viral letter dated August 4, 2025, purportedly from WAEC, claimed that specific schools had been singled out and directed their principals to report to the Lagos Zonal Office within 10 working days.

The letter, titled “Urgent Notice to the Following Secondary Schools Regarding Withheld Results”, appeared to be signed by Dr. Florence Ajayi, allegedly from WAEC’s Directorate of Examination Malpractice and Irregularities. It further stated that principals were to appear before a WAEC Investigative Panel by August 16, 2025, with supporting documents and affected students’ exam scripts where applicable.

Schools named in the list included high-profile institutions such as  St. Louis Secondary School, Ondo; Babington Macaulay Junior Seminary, Ikorodu; Atlantic Hall, Epe; Corona Secondary School, Agbara; Christ the King College, Onitsha; Stella Maris College, Abuja; and St. Theresa’s Catholic College, Ibadan, among others.

Reacting to the publication on Tuesday, WAEC through its official X (formerly Twitter) handle @waecnigeria urged the public to disregard the list, clarifying that it did not originate from the Council.

“Kindly ignore any message listing schools whose results were supposedly cancelled,” WAEC stated. “WAEC will never ask any centre to bring candidates’ scripts to the office. Where would they get them from? Do not accept any message not posted on our official handles or accredited media.”

Meanwhile, Monday’s result announcement by WAEC’s Head of National Office, Dr. Amos Dangut, revealed that only 38.32 per cent of the 1,969,313 candidates who sat for the exam obtained credits and above in five subjects, including English and Mathematics.

This marks a sharp drop compared to the 72.12 per cent pass rate recorded in the 2024 WASSCE. Dangut attributed the decline to stricter anti-malpractice policies implemented during the conduct of the examination.