Schools raise concerns over WAEC 2026 results amid CBT and grading complaints
The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) is facing growing scrutiny over the integrity of its newly released 2026 West African Senior School Certificate Examination results for school candidates, as school administrators and education advocates allege grading anomalies and technical problems linked to the expanded Computer-Based Testing rollout.
Director of Impact House Model Schools, Mowe, Ogun State, Sam Abdulazeez, said the school had observed a decline in performance in the 2025 and 2026 examinations despite retaining staff, improving facilities and intensifying preparation. In 2024 all 45 candidates presented for Mathematics obtained A1. In 2026, among 69 candidates, only about three or four secured A1 in Mathematics, even though more than 30 of the same cohort scored over 300 in the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), a fully computer-based test for which the school ran 22 mock examinations.
Abdulazeez said the school encountered technical failures during a WAEC mock CBT session and was later permitted to sit a paper examination. He also recalled grade adjustments on the 2025 portal after initial publication. He linked some of the concerns to serialisation of papers in subjects such as Mathematics, English, Economics and Biology, noting stronger outcomes in subjects without that feature.
Another administrator, speaking anonymously, said students with high UTME scores and previous GCE passes received D7, E8 and F9 grades in core subjects, including candidates already admitted to the University of Ibadan. Educationist Fola Adekeye urged examination bodies to investigate complaints proactively rather than wait for public outcry, citing the 2025 UTME errors that led to a public apology by the then Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board registrar.
The Initiative for School Excellence and Education Foundation, through its solicitors, has threatened legal action and demanded preservation of electronic records, disclosure of technical standards and an independent audit of the CBT platform. WAEC has defended the results, stating that they were produced through established, quality-assured processes of marking, moderation and auditing, and has advised the public to channel concerns through official channels rather than social media.
The controversy turns on whether the shift to computer-based delivery and serialisation has introduced technical or standardisation effects that distort outcomes relative to candidates’ demonstrated ability in other assessments. Schools are asking for transparency on raw-score distributions, grade thresholds and the treatment of different examination modes. WAEC maintains that its procedures remain intact. The credibility of the results will rest on whether those competing claims can be tested against verifiable data.
