By Peter.
The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has postponed the complete rollout of its Senior School Certificate Examinations (SSCE) in full Computer-Based Test (CBT) format to 2027, shifting from the original 2026 target set by the Federal Government.
The May/June 2026 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), however, will act as a key pilot program, allowing students to choose between the CBT option or the conventional paper-based approach for their exams.
This update was delivered by Hajia Binta Abdulkadir, Chairman of the Nigeria National Committee (NNC) of WAEC and the Federal Government’s Nominee, during the 63rd Annual Meeting of the NNC in Umuahia, Abia State. As WAEC’s top decision-making body in Nigeria, the NNC includes key education stakeholders and has taken note of widespread concerns about the 2026 CBT mandate for exam agencies.
“No candidate taking the 2026 WASSCE will face any disenfranchisement,” Hajia Abdulkadir emphasized, aiming to ease stakeholder anxieties.
She outlined WAEC’s ongoing preparations for the eventual full CBT shift, such as pilot training sessions for senior secondary students using tablets and digital styluses to answer essay questions digitally.
On the updated Basic and Secondary School Curricula, the WAEC leader confirmed that students won’t be limited in mixing elective subjects across streams. In particular: “Science students can still select Economics as an elective to round out their choices.”
WAEC has also lengthened the deadline for submitting Continuous Assessment Scores (CASS) to guarantee precise recording for all participants, especially those adding new subjects per the approved Federal Government list for the 2026 WASSCE for School Candidates.
#WAECCBT #WASSCE2026 #EducationReformNG #NigeriaExams #DigitalTransition
