Africa-Press – Sierra-Leone. The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has withheld the entire results of over 2,500 candidates who sat the 2025 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE), citing various malpractices and administrative failures.
According to the results announcement released by the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education (MBSSE), these candidates are among the 129,260 who registered for the exam.
The most severe category involves 1,673 candidates who had their entire results withheld. While the report did not specify the exact reasons for the mass withholding, such actions are typically linked to exam malpractice or institutional irregularities flagged by WAEC.
Beyond outright withholding, a significant number of results were retained due to specific data omissions:
504 candidates from 20 different schools had their results retained because their respective institutions failed to submit continuous assessment (CASS) scores. CASS scores are a mandatory component of the overall grading system, and their absence prevents WAEC from calculating a final result.
An additional 371 candidates had their results retained due to issues related to late entries for the examination.
Collectively, these administrative errors affected 2,548 candidates whose results were either withheld or retained and were therefore not released to MBSSE alongside the main batch.
While the final number of candidates who sat the exam and had results released was 122,037, these administrative complications point to persistent challenges in compliance and timely submission of required academic data from various schools nationwide.
The withholding of results is a standard procedure by WAEC to uphold the integrity of the examination process. Candidates found guilty of malpractice could face cancellation of their results or be barred from sitting future WAEC-administered exams.
Authorities are expected to investigate the institutional failures, especially in the 20 schools responsible for missing CASS scores, to ensure that candidates are not unfairly penalised in future examination cycles.
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