The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has withheld the results of 65 candidates who participated in the maiden computer-based test (CBT) of its 2024 first series, WASSCE, for private candidates.

Dr Amos Dangut, council’s Head of National Office (HNO) disclosed this in a statement issued to journalists to announce the release of results of this year’s  West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), on Friday, in Lagos.

Mr Dangut stated that the results, representing 0.80 per cent, were being withheld following reported cases of examination malpractice.

He said that when compared with the 413 recorded cases of examination malpractice in the 2023 diet of the same examination, it revealed that the new method of administration of this year’s  test had drastically reduced examination malpractice.

According to him, the reported cases are being investigated and reports of the investigations will be presented to the appropriate committee of the council for consideration.

“Thereafter, the committee’s decisions will be communicated directly to the affected candidates.

“Meanwhile, candidates whose results are being withheld can apply for redress by visiting https://waecinternational.org/complaints to register their complaints,” he said.

Giving a further breakdown of the results, the council boss noted that a total of 8,362 registered for the maiden CBT examination, showing a 4.30 per cent decrease in candidature, when compared with entry for 2023 of 8,738.

He noted that in all, a total of 8,139 sat for the examination at 140 CBT centres nationwide.

According to him, among the candidates that registered for the examination, 21 are with varying degrees of special needs.

He noted that nine of them are visually challenged, two with impaired hearing, and two are albinos.

“All these candidates with special needs were adequately catered for in the administration of the examination,” he said.

Mr Dangut noted that, of the total number of candidates that sat the examination, 8,006,  representing 98.37 per cent, had their results fully processed and released.

He added that 133 others, representing 1.63 per cent, had a few of their subjects still being processed due to some errors traceable to them.

“However, efforts are being made to speedily complete the processing to enable all the affected candidates to get their results fully processed and released, subsequently.

“The analysis of candidates’ performance showed that out of the 8,139 of them that sat for the the examination, 3,424 representing 42.07 per cent obtained credit and above in a minimum of five subjects (with or without English Language and/or Mathematics.

“A total of 2,519 candidates, representing 30.95 per cent, obtained credit and above in a minimum of five subjects, including English Language and Mathematics.

“Of this number, 1,286 are male candidates, while 1,233 are females.

“The percentage of candidates in this category in WASSCE for Private Candidates, 2022 and 2023 First Series, that is, those who obtained credit and above in a minimum of five subjects, including English Language and Mathematics, were 26.32 per cent and 23.99 per cent, respectively.

“Thus, there is a marginal increase of 6.96 per cent in performance in this regard,” he stated.

The council boss added that candidates were free to check their results by visiting www.waecdirect.org to ascertain their status before visiting the digital certificate platform (www.waec.org) to access the digital copies of their certificates, which have been released along with their results.

He noted that candidates would be required to apply for the printing of the hard copies of their certificates online, through the WAEC Certificate Request Portal (e-Certman). The portal address is https://certrequest.waec.ng/.

Recall that the first ever CBT of the council entailed using a hybrid method, where all questions were projected on the computer, and answers to the multiple-choice questions were supplied on the computer in real-time.

Meanwhile, answers to the essay and test of practical questions were supplied in booklets given to the candidates.

The examination was conducted between Jan. 31 and Feb. 17.
 (NAN)