The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) faced sharp criticism after its online result checker portal, waecdirect.org, was temporarily shut down on Wednesday evening, August 6, 2025, due to technical glitches, just hours after releasing the 2025 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) results, as confirmed by a WAEC statement on its official X handle. The outage left thousands of candidates unable to access their results, fueling frustration among students and parents, with only 38.32% of the 1,969,313 candidates achieving credits in five subjects, including English and Mathematics, a decade-low pass rate. WAEC’s Head of Public Affairs, Mrs. Moyosola Adesina, assured that the technical team was working to restore access within 24 hours, apologizing for the inconvenience.
The poor WASSCE performance, particularly in English Language, amplified public discontent, with 43,413 results withheld pending malpractice investigations. Social media has erupted with complaints, with some users pleading for a review of English grades, while a few others demanding a total recall of results, though these sentiments remain inconclusive. WAEC’s statement emphasized efforts to resolve the portal issues swiftly, but the council did not disclose the exact nature of the technical failure. The combination of the portal crash and disappointing results has sparked calls for an overhaul of Nigeria’s secondary education system, with stakeholders questioning exam preparation and grading processes.
The disruption follows WAEC’s Monday announcement of the 2025 WASSCE results, taken by over 1.9 million students across 23,000 schools, highlighting systemic challenges, including funding delays previously noted by WAEC officials before Parliament. As candidates await portal restoration, the council faces pressure to address both technical reliability and academic performance concerns, with no official further clarification on grading disputes issued yet.
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