The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has announced that 3,601 candidates who registered for the 2026 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) were absent from the examination.
The Council disclosed this in a statement dated Wednesday, July 29, to announce the release of the provisional results for school candidates.
According to WAEC, a total of 620,243 candidates, comprising 304,415 males and 315,828 females from 20,789 public and private schools, registered for this year’s examination.
The Council said the examination included 36 candidates with visual impairment, 282 with hearing impairment and 510 candidates with other test accommodation needs.
“The examination was conducted at 2,237 centres across the country. Out of the total number, 3,601 candidates were absent,” the statement said.
Meanwhile, WAEC announced sanctions against several candidates over examination malpractice following investigations into cases of irregularities detected during the conduct of the examination and the marking of scripts.
It said the Final Awards and Examiners’ Appointment Committee for the BECE, at its meeting held on Tuesday, July 21, 2026, approved the following sanctions:
“Cancellation of Subject Results of 496 candidates;
Cancellation of Entire Results of 105 candidates;
Withholding of Subject Results of 119 candidates;
Withholding of Entire Results of 48 candidates.”
WAEC further disclosed that the subject results of 2,722 candidates from 229 schools have been withheld pending the outcome of ongoing investigations.
The Council explained that the withheld results “may be cancelled or released based on the outcome of investigations by August 31, 2026.”
WAEC also cautioned the public against fraudsters who promise to upgrade examination results for a fee, stressing that its results are secure and can be authenticated.
