WAEC releases 2026 WASSCE results, cancels entire results of 861 candidates for possessing mobile phones

The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has released the 2026 provisional results of the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for school candidates, cancelling the entire results of 861 candidates for possessing mobile phones in the examination halls.

The Council also cancelled the subject results of 7,434 candidates for bringing foreign materials, including prepared notes, textbooks and printed materials, into the examination halls.

A statement issued by Mr John K. Kapi, Head of Public Affairs, WAEC National Office, said the Council had withheld the subject results of 957 candidates and the entire results of 270 candidates for various suspected offences.

It said the subject results of candidates from 169 schools had also been withheld over alleged collusion, adding that the cases were still under investigation.

“The withheld results of these candidates may be released or cancelled depending on the outcome of the investigations by October 30, 2026,” the statement said.

It advised candidates whose results had been cancelled or withheld to visit the Council's website and click on the “Withheld/Cancelled” button on the home page.

The candidates would then be redirected to the “Irregularity and Investigations” page, where they could find the reasons for the withholding or cancellation of their results and information on the next line of action for withheld results.

On the provisional results, WAEC said it would make the details available to heads of schools to enable them to access the results of their candidates.

“The results have been hosted online and candidates who so desire may access their results at the Council's website,” the statement said.

The Council cautioned candidates, parents and other stakeholders to be wary of fraudsters who promised to upgrade results for a fee.

“Candidates are to note that WAEC results are secured and can be authenticated using its results verification system. The WAEC QR code can be downloaded and used to verify results,” it said.

A total of 512,862 candidates, comprising 225,270 males and 287,592 females from 1,022 schools, registered for the examination.

WAEC said the figure represented an 11.07 per cent increase over the 2025 entry figure of 461,736.

A total of 5,049 candidates, representing 0.98 per cent of the registered candidates, were absent from the examination.

GNA