The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has announced a new initiative, allowing students to resit their West Africa Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) papers as early as January and February 2025.
Until now, millions of candidates had to wait for the next private examination cycle to retake their failed exams.
The new programme, dubbed WASSCE PC1, offers a quicker path to improving students’ grades and enabling them to qualify for the next cycle of admissions.
The head of public affairs at WAEC, John Kapi, while addressing journalists on JoyNews’ AM Show recently stated that the exams would take place from January 24 to February 15, 2025, with the registration closing on January 8.
The exams, according to Kapi, will be conducted in regional capitals, as the maiden edition is expected to attract a relatively small number of candidates.
“Students who access their results now and realise they need to resit one or two papers have until 8th January to register online through our website or at WAEC-accredited internet cafés. The exams will take place from 24th January to 15th February 2025,” Kapi said.
He stated that WAEC intended to fast-track the release of chief examiners’ reports to assist candidates in their preparation.
He explained that the reports would offer detailed feedback on students’ mistakes and provide guidance on improving their study methods and exam approaches.
“We’ve advertised this programme widely through banners, our website, and our results checker platform to ensure that both students and parents are aware,” Kapi added.
Students whose results were cancelled can take the WASSCE PC1 exams, as long as they have not been barred for a period due to malpractice.
“For now, the exams will be conducted in regional capitals due to the limited number of candidates. Prospective participants are urged to complete their registration by the 8th of January to take advantage of this opportunity.”
The announcement came amidst the challenges in WAEC’s examination, including the withholding of over 215,000 candidates’ results from the 2024 WASSCE due to malpractice allegations.
According to WAEC’s head in Nigeria, Amos Dangut, 11.92 per cent of the 1.8 million candidates who sat for the exams were implicated in malpractice.
