The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has released results for the 2025 Second Series Computer Based West African Senior School Certificate Examination for private candidates, but nearly 4,000 candidates are yet to receive their full results due to errors attributed to the candidates themselves.

Of the 65,752 candidates who sat the examination, 3,809, representing 5.79 per cent, still have some subjects being processed. WAEC assured that efforts were under way to resolve the matter. "Efforts are being made to speedily complete the processing to enable all the affected candidates to get their results fully processed and released subsequently," the council stated.

The results were announced in a statement issued on Monday night by WAEC's Head of Public Affairs, Moyosola Adesina. A total of 69,604 candidates registered for the examination, a 1.8 per cent increase from the 68,342 who enrolled in 2024, with 65,752 sitting the examination across 370 centres nationwide between 11 November and 17 December 2025.

Overall performance declined significantly. Only 42.17 per cent of candidates obtained credit passes in at least five subjects including English Language and Mathematics, down from 53.64 per cent in 2024 and 44.29 per cent in 2023. "The percentage of candidates in this category in the 2023 and 2024 Second Series was 44.29 per cent and 53.64 per cent, respectively. Thus, there is a marginal decrease of 11.47 per cent in performance in this regard," WAEC stated.

A wider measure showed that 33,989 candidates, representing 51.69 per cent, obtained credit passes in at least five subjects with or without English Language and Mathematics.

Female candidates outperformed their male counterparts. Of the 27,727 candidates who met the five credit benchmark including English Language and Mathematics, 14,311, representing 51.61 per cent, were female, while 13,416, representing 48.39 per cent, were male. Overall, female candidates accounted for 51.32 per cent of those who sat the examination against 48.68 per cent for males.

An additional 1,899 candidates, representing 2.89 per cent of those who sat the examination, have had their results withheld over alleged malpractice. WAEC said investigations were ongoing and that findings would be presented to the appropriate committee, with decisions communicated directly to those affected.

WAEC advised all candidates to check their results online and access digital certificates through its portal, with hard copies available on request.