WAEC revokes licences of 574 Schools over Exam Malpractices

The West African Examinations Council (WAEC), Nigeria, has withdrawn the licenses of 574 secondary schools found guilty of involvement in examination malpractices.

The decision comes as the 2025 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for school candidates is set to begin on Thursday, April 24, and run until Friday, June 20, 2025.

Speaking during a press briefing at WAEC’s headquarters in Lagos on Thursday, the Head of the National Office, Dr. Amos Dangut, revealed that the examination body had also submitted the list of the affected schools to the federal government for further action.

“This year, we have shared with them a total of 574 schools that have had their recognition withdrawn. These schools have had their licences revoked as far as being examination centres are concerned,” Dangut stated. “We will not conduct examinations there. We don’t recognise them for that purpose.”

He added that WAEC is committed to upholding the integrity of its examination process and will continue to take strict measures against unethical practices.

A total of 1,973,253 candidates from 23,554 schools registered for the 2025 WASSCE. Out of this number, 979,228 are male while 994,025 are female. According to Dangut, the total number of registered candidates increased by 158,627 compared to the previous year.

In a major technological shift, WAEC has also introduced its first-ever Computer-Based WASSCE (CB-WASSCE) for school candidates in 2025, a step aimed at modernising the examination process.

“As an organisation that believes in the use of modern ICT tools to solve problems and enhance service delivery, the Council has introduced the maiden CB-WASSCE,” Dangut said.

He further announced a new innovation to reduce cheating, stating that candidates will no longer receive identical questions for each number on the exam paper.

“It will interest you to know that from this year, two candidates will not have the same questions for each number. We have adopted this innovation for some WASSCE codes to uphold academic and moral integrity,” he said.

On security concerns, Dangut assured the public of the council’s collaboration with police authorities across states to ensure a smooth and secure examination process.

WAEC reiterated its commitment to reforming Nigeria’s education sector and urged all stakeholders to support efforts aimed at maintaining standards and discipline in the conduct of public examinations.