The provisional 2025 West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (WASSCE) results, released on Saturday, November 29, are described as the worst performance in the last four years, especially in Mathematics and Social Studies.

Adding his voice to these concerns, President Mahama, speaking during an engagement, attributed the steep decline in student performance to years of neglect at the basic education level in the last seven years.

According to him, the poor results reflect deep weaknesses in foundational learning, worsened by persistent delays in the release of the capitation grant and the inability to guarantee quality teaching at the basic level. He emphasised the need to prioritise foundational learning, warning that failure to do so will only produce candidates who lack quality and will ultimately be unable to contribute meaningfully to national productivity.

“It emphasises the issue of foundational learning. One of the major things that has taken place in the last several years is the neglect of basic education, the inability to send the capitation grant, and the failure to ensure that we have quality teachers at the foundational or basic level. Because it is that level that prepares the child for secondary and tertiary education, and once you don’t get that level right, you will simply send the child through a conveyor belt like a factory, and when he comes out at the end, quality control will pick him out and say this one did not do well. So our focus must be on foundational learning,” President Mahama said.

He described the situation as a serious concern for the government, parents, and the wider public, explaining that he has instructed the Minister of Education and other stakeholders to conduct a detailed analysis of the examiners’ report to determine what triggered the dramatic drop in performance, especially given that the same teachers and learning conditions were in place.

“It has become an issue of great concern to the government, parents, and the public at large. I was speaking with the minister, and I have asked them to do an analysis of the examiner’s report and try to decipher what could have gone so disastrously wrong. It is mind-boggling that with the same teachers and the same factors in play, just from one batch to another, one batch performs so disastrously. We need to get to the bottom of it.”

About the 2025 WASSCE results

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 sharply from 9.55% in 2024 to 27.50% in 2025, representing a 188% rise. The other core subjects, Integrated Science and English Language, also saw their failure rates double, with Integrated Science rising from 7.12% in 2024 to 16.05% in 2025 and English Language 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 sharp drop from the 66.86% recorded in 2024. In absolute terms, 209,068 candidates passed Core Mathematics, while 114,872, or 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, with English, Mathematics, Integrated Science, and Social Studies forming the backbone of Ghana’s education system. Failure in these subjects means students lack the basic skills needed for higher education or employment.

The mass failure comes with several major concerns relating to career opportunities, social consequences, and the country’s economic future. Students with F9 grades or those who failed any core subject now have their dreams of pursuing higher education, whether in Ghana or abroad, truncated.

They will also face limitations in securing many formal jobs, creating 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. If failure rates are concentrated in certain regions or schools, it further highlights inequality in access to quality teaching and resources.

Aside from these disturbing results, WAEC 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 for smuggling unauthorised materials, including notes, textbooks, and printed material, into examination halls. The entire results of 653 candidates have been cancelled for smuggling mobile phones into the exam hall.

The subject results of 908 candidates and the entire results of 158 candidates remain withheld pending investigations into suspected offences, and results for candidates from 185 schools have also been withheld for alleged collusion. In addition, 35 persons, including 19 teachers, who compromised the integrity of the examination, face legal and disciplinary action, and already 19 of those individuals have been arraigned before the court and convicted with fines or prison terms.

Before the exams, the Ghana Education Service (GES) warned 2025 candidates sitting for the WASSCE against examination malpractice, cautioning that offenders could face a 12- to 15-year jail term. 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 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, are writing the exams in the municipality, including Christ Apostolic Church SHS, Dormaa SHS, Adehyeman SHS, and Salvation Army SHS.