In a sweeping crackdown on examination malpractice, the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has cancelled the entire results of 653 candidates who sat the 2025 West African Senior School Certificate Examination for possessing mobile phones in examination halls.
In addition, the Council annulled the subject-level results of 6,295 other candidates, who were found to have brought unauthorized foreign materials — including prepared notes, textbooks, or printed sheets — into exam halls.
Beyond those confirmed cases, WAEC has withheld results for additional candidates: subject results for 908 individuals and entire results for another 158 candidates remain on hold, pending further investigations into alleged offences.
Also, subject results of candidates from 185 schools have been withheld over suspicions of collusion. These cases are under scrutiny, and WAEC says it is working to conclude investigations and publish results — if appropriate — by the end of December 2025.
According to WAEC’s statement, the disciplinary actions were approved by the governing body — the Ghana Examinations Committee — at its 40th meeting, held on Wednesday, November 17, 2025.
The 2025 WASSCE saw a total of 461,736 candidates registered across 1,021 schools — a slight increase compared with 2024’s record.
In its statement, WAEC also disclosed that 35 individuals — including 19 teachers — have been implicated in activities that compromised the integrity of the examination process. So far, 19 have been prosecuted and convicted (receiving fines or prison terms), while 16 remain before the courts. In addition, the Council said it will forward the list of implicated teachers to the Ghana Education Service (GES) for further disciplinary action.
