WAEC shuts down result portal for 24 hours to fix technical glitch

The West African Examination Council (WAEC) has temporarily shut down its result checking portal for the next 24 hours due to technical issues. The development comes 2 days after the examination body released the 2025 WAEC results for school candidates.

A Wednesday X (formerly Twitter) post by WAEC Nigeria explained that the move is attributed to a sudden technical glitch experienced on the waecdirect.org portal, and efforts are currently being coordinated to ensure services are restored within the next 24 hours.

“WAEC hereby informs the general public that the result checker portal @waecdirect.org is temporarily shut down due to technical issues,” part of the statement reads. 

The development means that candidates nationwide who have yet to check their results will have to wait till services on the portal are restored. In addition, the move further raises questions about the technical ability and preparation of the examination body towards a significant moment for candidates.

While the WAEC result portal is down, the National Examination Council (NECO) result checking portal is also currently under maintenance.

In a recent statement, NECO said it shut down all its exam-related portals nationwide starting August 4, 2025, for system maintenance and upgrades. This includes result checking, registration, and verification services.

According to the national examination board, the issue is attributed to upgrading the system to improve speed and security, prevent system crashes during high traffic, fix bugs and server issues.

However, NECO is yet to announce a specific date the portal will be restored.

Also Read: How to check your 2025 WAEC result via SMS, App or website.

Statistics from 2025 WAEC

For the 2025 WASSCE (West African Senior School Certificate Examination), which was held between Thursday, April 24, and Friday, June 20, 2025, a total of 1,973,253 candidates were registered from 23,554 schools. This includes 979,228 males and 994,025 females.

However, the 2025 results for school candidates released on Monday, July 5 indicated that out of the 1,969,313 candidates who sat for the examination, only 754,545 candidates, representing 38.32%, obtained credits and above in a minimum of five subjects, including English Language and Mathematics.

According to the Head of Nigeria’s Office (HNO) of WAEC, Amos Dangut, who announced the release of the results, this year’s outcome showed a 33.8% drop in performance compared to 72.12% recorded in 2024.

He noted that the results of 192,089 candidates, representing 9.75% of the total number of candidates, were withheld over reported cases of malpractice. Amos revealed that the figure represented a 2.17% decline compared to the 11.92% recorded in the 2024 edition of the same examination.

In addition, out of the total number of candidates that sat for the examination in Nigeria, 1,517,517 candidates, representing 77.06%, have their results fully processed and released, while 451,796 candidates, representing 22.94%, have one or more of their subjects still being processed due to some issues to be resolved. 

In terms of performance year-on-year, reports revealed that the 38.32% pass rate for this year is the poorest since 2020. 

In 2020, the examination body announced that 1,003,668 candidates, representing 65.24% of the 1,601,047 who sat for the exams, obtained credits and above in a minimum of five subjects, including English Language and Mathematics.

The following year, 2021, saw an improvement of 81.7% pass rate recorded, translating to 16%, while it reduced to 76.36% in 2022, representing more than 5% decline in performance. In 2023, the examination body recorded a 79.81% pass rate, including those who took English and Mathematics papers, while the pass rate reduced to 72.12% in 2024.

Meanwhile, experts have pointed out the depressing conditions under which candidates were made to write the 2025 WAEC exams as a factor for the poor performance. Recall that candidates nationwide sat for the English Language paper till late in the night due to the late arrival of the question paper.