WAEC denies withholding WASSCE results of 34,000 candidates

The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has debunked claims that it had withheld the results of over 34,000 candidates who sat for the 2025 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for School.

WAEC’s comment comes after a purported statement claimed that 34,563 candidates’ results were being withheld due to alleged collusion, impersonation, and the use of unauthorised materials.

But in an interview monitored by Pretertiary.com, the Head of Public Affairs at WAEC, Mr John Kapi, said the Council has not issued any official statement to that effect, describing the circulating reports as “factually inaccurate.”

Speaking on the AM Show on JoyNews, Mr Kapi said WAEC is still investigating cases of irregularities recorded during the just-ended examinations, but has not yet concluded its findings or released any figures.

“We have not released any official statement. I’ve seen the statement being circulated myself, but there are a lot of factual inaccuracies in it. We are still dealing with the issues and have not concluded investigations,” he said.

Mr. Kapi explained that WAEC deployed a more elaborate inspection and monitoring team this year to ensure the credibility of the examination process, but despite the effort, a few cases of malpractice were still detected.

“We had people all over the place monitoring the exams. Of course, there were still some bad nuts in the system, and so we recorded a number of irregularities. However, it is not true that we have withheld the results of over 34,000 candidates. For now, no, we haven’t put any figures out,” he stressed.

The WAEC official said investigations into suspected malpractice cases are ongoing, and any official information regarding withheld results will only be communicated after the Examinations Committee concludes its review.

The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has therefore urged the general public to disregard unverified reports and rely only on information released through its official channels.

In other news, the West African Examinations Council management has identified the Bono, Bono East, Ahafo, and Ashanti Regions as the top hotspots for examination malpractice in the country.

“The hotspots in the country are the Bono, Bono East, Ahafo, and Ashanti Regions. You may think the figures elsewhere are higher, but in recent years, we’ve seen the Central Region’s numbers begin to rise as well,” Mr Kapi said in the interview.

He explained that while the figures fluctuate annually, the trend suggests that certain regions have become repeat offenders, with common cases including cheating, impersonation, and the circulation of leaked exam papers.

The Public Relations Officer (PRO) said his outfit is working closely with security agencies and education authorities to curb the growing menace, particularly as investigations continue into irregularities reported during the 2024 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).