The provisional results of students who sat for the 2025 WASSCE have been released by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC).

The examination council released the results on Saturday night, November 29. The results have highlighted a growing concern in Ghana’s education sector. The results reveal a significant spike in outright failure rates (F9) across all four core subjects compared to 2024. Core Mathematics recorded the sharpest decline, with the proportion of candidates who failed rising from 6.10% in 2024 to an alarming 26.77% in 2025, more than four times higher.

Consequently, only 48.73% of candidates achieved grades A1 to C6, a steep drop from the 66.86% recorded in 2024. In absolute terms, 209,068 candidates passed Core Maths, while 114,872 (26.77%) failed outright with an F9. Put simply, for every four students who sat for the exam, one failed Core Mathematics.

The results have sparked several concerns, with experts expressing worry about possible frustration among some students who failed Core Maths and excelled in other subjects. Given that Core Mathematics is a core subject that one is mandated to pass to secure entry into most higher education opportunities, particularly in Ghana, the country is set for a looming crisis.

Core maths is considered a foundation for careers like engineering, medicine, economics, ICT, finance, and science. A mass failure means a huge limitation for the pool of qualified candidates for these critical professions.

Also, as Ghana’s economy is gearing towards STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) skills due to the evolving global workspace, high failure rates in Maths threaten the country’s ability to produce skilled graduates for modern industries.

One of the concerns about failing Core Maths is the social consequence. These students mostly face limited career options, frustration, and unemployment risks.

Also, another core subject which students failed was Social Studies. The percentage of students who failed Social Studies also saw a steep increase from 9.55% in 2024 to 27.50% in 2025, representing a 188% increase.

The other core subjects, that is, Integrated Science and English Language, also saw a doubling of their previous failure rate.

For Integrated Science, the failure rate increased by 8.93%; that is 2024 rate was 7.12% and in 2025 it increased to 16.05%.

The failure rate for English Language also rose from 5.88% in 2024 to 12.86% in 2025.

Aside from these disturbing failures, WAEC’s data shows a massive crackdown on examination malpractice.

The Ghana Examinations Committee approved severe sanctions against thousands of candidates and dozens of educational personnel.

The subject results of 6,295 candidates have been cancelled over their smuggling of unauthorised materials like notes, textbooks, and printed material into the examination hall.

Also, the entire results of 653 candidates have been cancelled for smuggling mobile phones into the examination hall, while the subject results of 908 candidates and the entire results of 158 candidates remain withheld pending investigations into various suspected offences.

Results for candidates from 185 schools were withheld for alleged collusion.

In addition, 35 persons, including 19 teachers, who compromised the integrity of the examination face legal and disciplinary action. Already, 19 of those individuals have been arraigned before the court and convicted to fines or prison terms.

Before the exams, the Ghana Education Service (GES) has warned 2025 candidates sitting for the 2025 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) against examination malpractice, threathening a twelve to fifteen-year jail term for culprits.

This was announced by the Dormaa Central Municipal Public Relations Officer of the GES in the Bono Region, Nana Kumi Agyemang, during an engagement with the Ghana News Agency.

According to him, offenders risk the cancellation of their entire examination, and he also said that offenders risk having their entire results cancelled or withheld.

He also revealed that 2,179 candidates, comprising 1,075 males and 1,104 females, from four Senior High Schools (SHSs) are writing the exams in the Municipality. The schools include Christ Apostolic Church SHS, Dormaa SHS, Adehyeman SHS and Salvation Army SHS.

As part of the measures put in place to ensure compliance with exam rules, Nana Kumi also revealed that the police have been deployed to various centres to monitor the students. This is also to prevent the students from using AI to solve their questions.

“A monitoring team has been deployed to ensure the successful conduct of the exams, while the police have also been engaged to maintain law and order. Mobile phone use at the centres has been banned, and invigilators and supervisors are strictly enforcing the directive.”

“The candidates are also under strict supervision to prevent the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for the examination,” Nana Agyemang added.

He also warned candidates to stay away from sneaking prohibited materials like papers with answers of anything of that sort to the exam halls, urging them to face their papers with courage.

“Candidates must avoid carrying prohibited materials into the examination halls. They should rather be confident and courageous in tackling their papers.”

He also remarked on the rise in female participation:

“The steady increase in the number of female candidates is encouraging. This can be attributed to government interventions such as the Free SHS policy, the distribution of free sanitary pads, and intensified education and counselling by girl-child education coordinators.”

Before the examination council sent caution to the 2025 WASCE candidates, they had cancelled and withheld the subject results and entire results of some two thousand, two hundred and twenty-eight (2,228) candidates who sat for the 2025 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).

The Council made this known after revealing that it had released provisional results of candidates who sat for the BECE for School Candidates, 2025.

Following the completion of investigations into several cases of irregularity detected during the conduct of the examination and marking of scripts, the 36th Meeting of the Final Awards and Examiners' Appointment Committee for the BECE, 2025, held on Friday, August 15, 2025, approved the cancellation of the subject results of 718 candidates and the entire results of 177 candidates.

The committee also withheld the subject results of 1,240 candidates and the entire results of 93 candidates.