From Victor Osula, Abuja
School administrators, education advocates and civil society groups are up in arms against the West African Examination Council, WAEC, claim widespread grading inconsistencies, technical shortcomings and a lack of transparency in the marking process.
The growing backlash comes amid claims that several students with proven records of academic excellence, including candidates who scored above 300 in the 2026 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), were awarded grades far below expectations in core WASSCE subjects.
The controversy has sparked renewed debate over WAEC’s expanded Computer-Based Testing (CBT) rollout, paper serialisation and result processing methodology, with stakeholders demanding an independent audit of the examination system to restore public confidence.
Among the schools questioning the results is Impact House Model Schools, Mowe, Ogun State.
Speaking with journalists, the school’s Director, Mr Sam Abdulazeez, said the institution had witnessed an unexpected decline in students’ WASSCE performance in both 2025 and 2026 despite retaining experienced teachers, upgrading learning facilities and intensifying academic preparation.
According to him, the school has maintained an impressive record since it began presenting candidates for WASSCE in 2017, particularly in Mathematics and English Language. He recalled that all 45 candidates presented for Mathematics in 2024 earned A1 grades, making the latest outcome difficult to reconcile with the school’s academic history.
Abdulazeez disclosed that more than 30 of the school’s 69 candidates scored above 300 in the 2026 UTME, while none scored below 200 after participating in 22 computer-based mock examinations designed to prepare them for CBT.
Despite those performances, only three or four candidates obtained A1 in Mathematics, while English Language results also fell below the school’s expectations.
“Our best students cannot suddenly become failures,” he said, insisting that the results did not reflect the quality of preparation undertaken by the candidates.
The school director alleged that WAEC encountered technical problems during trial CBT exercises conducted before the examination.
According to him, officials experienced repeated difficulties connecting examination systems to WAEC’s servers, forcing the school to seek approval to conduct the examination using paper-based scripts despite initially being scheduled for CBT.
He also claimed that similar issues arose after the release of the 2025 WASSCE results, alleging that some candidates’ grades were subsequently upgraded after the initial publication.
The experience, he said, prompted the school to delay releasing this year’s results internally in anticipation of possible adjustments that never occurred.
Abdulazeez further questioned whether serialised question papers and the grading process for subjects such as Mathematics, English Language, Economics and Biology contributed to the disputed outcome.
Another school administrator, who requested anonymity, said several students with outstanding UTME scores and previous success in the General Certificate Examination (GCE) unexpectedly received D7, E8 and F9 grades in core subjects.
The administrator revealed that two students who had already secured admission into the University of Ibadan were recorded as failing Mathematics and English Language in the newly released WASSCE results.
The claims have intensified calls for an independent review of the examination. Education expert, Fola Adekeye, urged WAEC to strengthen the integrity of its examination processes, warning that examination bodies determine the future of millions of young Nigerians. He said the council should proactively investigate complaints instead of waiting for widespread public criticism before taking action.
Adekeye noted that some outstanding students in his own school also recorded results that appeared inconsistent with their academic abilities.
While cautioning against making premature allegations, he urged WAEC to modernise its facilities where necessary and communicate changes in examination methods well ahead of implementation. He also called for greater transparency in grading and standardisation procedures.
The controversy has assumed a legal dimension following a formal demand issued by the Initiative for School Excellence and Education Foundation (ISEE) through Zuriel Law Practice.
The organisation requested the immediate preservation of candidate response databases, server logs, audit trails and scoring records relating to the 2026 CBT examination.
It also demanded disclosure of the technical standards governing the examination, access for affected candidates to inspect their examination records and an independent audit of the CBT platform by education and information technology experts.
The lawyers gave WAEC 14 days to respond, warning that failure to comply would result in legal proceedings seeking court orders for disclosure, verification and human review of disputed results.
ISEE founder, Alex Onyia, also questioned how WAEC standardised candidates who sat examinations under different conditions, particularly amid allegations of question leakages in some paper-based centres.
He challenged the council to publish raw score distributions, grading thresholds and details of its standardisation process, insisting that transparency would strengthen public trust.
Responding to the growing criticism, WAEC maintained that the 2026 WASSCE results were credible and produced in accordance with established quality assurance procedures.
The council’s Head of Public Affairs, Moyosola Adesina, said every candidate’s script passed through multiple stages of marking, moderation and auditing supervised by experienced subject experts.
WAEC also urged candidates, schools and parents to disregard unverified claims circulating on social media and instead report complaints through its official communication channels.
