Outrage Grows as WAEC Portal Crashes Amid Worst Result Performance in 10 Years

The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) faced a fresh wave of backlash on Wednesday evening after its online result-checking portal went offline, leaving thousands of anxious candidates unable to access their 2025 WASSCE scores.

WAEC confirmed the disruption via its official X (formerly Twitter) account, attributing the shutdown to technical difficulties and promising to restore access within 24 hours.

“The result checker portal (waecdirect.org) is temporarily unavailable due to technical issues,” the statement read. “Efforts are ongoing to restore full functionality as soon as possible. We regret any inconvenience caused.”

But the statement only added fuel to the fire, as the council is already under heavy scrutiny following the release of the 2025 West African Senior School Certificate Examination results earlier this week — results that have triggered widespread outrage over an unprecedented failure rate in key subjects.

Worst WASSCE Pass Rate in a Decade

According to WAEC’s official data, only 38.32% of the 1,969,313 candidates who sat the examination obtained credit-level passes in five subjects, including Mathematics and English Language — the lowest success rate recorded in over ten years.

The sharp drop in English Language performance has sparked intense criticism, with students, parents, and educators alleging systemic failures during the conduct and marking of the exam.

Allegations of Disruption and Unfair Grading

Much of the anger has centred on the delayed administration of the English Language paper, which reportedly took place late at night in many centres on May 28 due to logistical lapses.

Candidates across social media shared testimonies of writing the high-stakes paper under extreme conditions — including power outages, limited time, and late-night exam sessions. Some claimed they were given just 30 to 60 minutes to complete a paper that should have lasted over two hours.

“We wrote our English paper around 8pm with no electricity. Everyone was rushing. It was chaos,” tweeted @_samad1.

“I got A1s and B2s in other subjects. How could I possibly get D7 in English?” lamented a parent via @Johnway11145073.

Claims of Error and Demand for Review

While the portal outage caused frustration, many candidates remained hopeful that once the system comes back online, their results might be updated. Some even speculated that the grades were under review.

“When they reopen that portal, just watch. English scores will magically improve,” posted @ebitimi_da15726.

Others were less optimistic, accusing the examination body of grade manipulation and suggesting the failure rate may be part of a broader issue tied to revenue or control.

“WAEC is toying with the future of Nigerian students. If these scripts are reassessed fairly, the result will expose massive errors,” wrote @JayTrezy.

Public Calls for Intervention

Concerned citizens have started tagging the Presidency, the Ministry of Education, and international education watchdogs, calling for an independent review of WAEC’s processes and outcomes.

“Students wrote under duress and were failed. WAEC must be held accountable,” tweeted @MarquizDejavex.

“We reject these results. Let a third-party body re-evaluate the English and Maths scores before this escalates,” warned @pastorbtdaniels.

Several parents and teachers described the results as demoralising and unjust, especially in cases where students performed excellently in other subjects but failed English — a key requirement for university admission.

“I can’t accept this. I sold my belongings to pay for this exam, and now you say my child failed English? Please WAEC, do the right thing,” pleaded @DEYHOT_official.

Silence on Script Reassessment

As of Thursday morning, WAEC had not issued any statement in response to the growing demand for regrading or clarification on how the English Language scripts were assessed. The silence has only intensified calls for transparency and accountability.

Meanwhile, many await the restoration of the result-checking portal, hoping it brings not only access but also answers.