The Ghana Education Service (GES) has announced that Ghana will rejoin the international West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), starting from the May/June 2026 examination cycle.

In 2020, the Akufo-Addo-led administration introduced the “Ghana-only WASSCE” under the then Education Minister, Yaw Osei-Adutwum. In the last five years, Ghanaian Senior High School candidates sat a localized version of the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), separate from the international May/June exams written by Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and The Gambia.

Also, it was reported that, due to COVID-19, which became a global plague, Ghana adjusted its exam calendar to fit its own reopening schedule for schools, which differed from other WAEC member countries.

At the time, the government explained that the move was to deal with cross-border leakages of exam papers, which were undermining credibility. By isolating Ghana’s exam, they could better control distribution and monitoring.

However, following the release of the 2025 provisional results by the education regulator, GES announced in a statement dated December 1, explaining facts surrounding the 2025 WASSCE results.

The statement revealed that: “As Ghana moves away from the Ghana-only WASSCE introduced under the previous administration to take the international WASSCE, written by all West African member countries in May/June 2026…”

Consequently, it urged candidates to adequately prepare for the exams in the coming year, as it seeks to adopt the necessary measures to uphold the integrity of the exams without compromise.

“…the Management of GES admonishes students to prepare very well for the examination. Management of GES will not compromise the integrity of examinations. GES will continue to work closely with all stakeholders, heads of schools, teachers, students, parents, communities, Civil Society Organisations, and WAEC, to improve teaching and learning and the integrity of the examination,” parts of the statement read.

While GES, in its statement, didn’t explain the reason behind the return to the international WASSCE in 2026, according to WAEC, students in all five member countries write the same WASSCE because it ensures uniform standards of assessment, comparability of results, and credibility across the sub-region.

It also helps students move freely across any of the West African countries to pursue higher education using their exam certificates and, later, even secure job opportunities since their certificates are recognized equally.

Meanwhile, GES’ statement wasn’t only intended to announce the return to the international WASSCE next year, but also to address some remarks made by the former Education Minister, Dr. Adutwum, when the 2025 WASSCE results were released.

Dr. Adutwum, in reaction to the abysmal performance by the students, particularly across the four core subjects, blamed the government. According to reports, Dr. Adutwum suggested that “the performance of students in the 2025 WASSCE was due to unsupportive management practices of GES,” adding that the government’s cancellation of allowances for teachers is a contributory factor to the students’ performance.

GES, in response, stated that: “Management takes note of attempts by Dr. Yaw Osei-Adutwum, immediate past Minister for Education, to attribute the performance of students in the 2025 WASSCE to unsupportive management practices of GES. It is not true that the GES has cancelled any allowances due teachers, as claimed by Dr. Adutwum in his engagement with some media houses. Indeed, the Controller and Accountant-General's Department (CAGD) has publicly clarified reasons for the non-payment of the November allowances for teachers.”

It went on to charge the public to treat Dr. Adutwum’s remarks as a move to deflect attention from his failures in handling the examination process.

“GES urges the public to disregard the statements made by the former Minister, Dr. Adutwum, regarding the 2025 WASSCE results and treat them as an attempt to shift focus from his shortcomings in managing the examination process,” the education agency added.

It continued that: “Management of GES views the 2025 WASSCE results as a true reflection of the academic performance of the candidates. The outcome is a credible representation of students' abilities. It is essential to appreciate that the outcome is a direct demonstration of the trend towards restoring the integrity of the examination process. A credible examination system serves the best interests of our students, our schools, and the nation.”

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 rates.

For Integrated Science, the failure rate increased by 8.93%; that is, the 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, including career opportunities, social consequences, and the likely impact on the country’s economy.