An Accra High Court has rejected the West African Examinations Council's (WAEC) request for a stay of execution regarding an earlier ruling that ordered the release of withheld results from the 2024 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).

The initial judgment, delivered on January 30, 2025, favored four students who had petitioned the court on behalf of all affected candidates. The court directed WAEC to release the results without attaching prejudicial footnotes, describing the council’s reasons for withholding the results as unclear and inconsistent. The court also highlighted that prolonged withholding could obstruct the academic and professional advancement of the students.

Despite the ruling, WAEC sought a stay of execution pending an appeal. However, on February 20, 2025, presiding judge Justice Ali Baba Abature dismissed the application, stating that WAEC had failed to provide adequate justification for its actions. The court also imposed a GHS 5,000 fine on the examination body.

WAEC had initially released the provisional results of 460,611 candidates from 1,003 schools on December 30, 2024. The examination period was marred by several irregularities, including candidates bringing unauthorized materials into exam halls, sharing questions on social media, and instances of invigilators allegedly assisting candidates.

Following investigations, WAEC, with approval from the Ghana Examinations Committee, took disciplinary actions that included:

Cancelling subject results for 4,108 candidates for smuggling foreign materials into exam halls.

Cancelling entire results of 483 candidates caught with mobile phones during the exams.

Withholding subject results of 781 candidates and the full results of 209 candidates over various suspected offences.

Withholding subject results for candidates from 319 schools over suspected collusion.

WAEC’s process for handling withheld results typically involves notifying affected schools, scrutinizing scripts, and granting students the opportunity to respond to the allegations through written statements.

Some of the affected candidates challenged the council’s actions in court, resulting in the January ruling that ordered the release of their results. WAEC’s attempt to halt the enforcement of that decision has now been dismissed, with the council expected to release all withheld results by February 28, 2025, as investigations conclude.