The 2026 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) commenced today with the Oral English assessment, as final-year Senior High School students in Ghana joined their regional counterparts.
Statistics from the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) reveal that 509,862 candidates are registered nationwide, consisting of 225,274 males and 284,588 females.
While practical sessions for subjects like Visual Arts and Home Economics have already taken place, this year’s Oral English paper is notably being conducted simultaneously across all WAEC member countries.
This examination cycle signifies a full return to the traditional May–June academic calendar, following years of rescheduling necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Regional efforts by Nigeria, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and The Gambia have successfully harmonised schedules to restore this original timetable.
Geographically, the Ashanti Region leads with the highest turnout of 127,702 candidates. Other significant entries include 70,099 from the Eastern Region, 67,739 from the combined Bono, Bono East, and Ahafo regions, and 61,303 from the Central Region. Greater Accra recorded 48,099 candidates, followed by the Volta Region with 41,622 and the combined Oti and Western North regions with 35,620.
The Northern ecological zone saw 33,155 entries, while the Upper East and Upper West regions registered 15,192 and 9,249 candidates respectively. In almost every administrative zone, female candidates outnumbered their male peers.
