The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) released the provisional results of the 2025 West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (WASSCE) on Saturday, November 29.

The results show a massive surge in outright failure rates (Grade F9) across all four core subjects compared to the 2024 performance.

According to the provisional results released by WAEC, the percentage of students who failed Social Studies increased steeply 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 the English Language also rose from 5.88% in 2024 to 12.86% in 2025. 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 Core subjects are foundational: English, Mathematics, Integrated Science, and Social Studies are the backbone of Ghana’s education system. Failure in these means students lack the basic skills needed for higher education or employment.

The failure of core subjects by candidates this year comes with several major concerns. Career opportunity-wise, social consequences and the impact it is likely to have on the country’s economy.

Students with F9 grades or who failed in any of the core subjects now have their dreams of pursuing higher education, whether in Ghana or abroad, truncated. They will also be limited in securing many formal jobs, which will in turn create long-term barriers to social mobility.

A large cohort of underqualified youth weakens the skilled workforce, affecting productivity and innovation. High failure rates can lead to frustration, unemployment, and in some cases, social unrest. Also, if failure rates are concentrated in certain regions or schools, it highlights inequality in access to quality teaching and resources.

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.