The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has attributed the sharp decline in the 2025 WASSCE results to major weaknesses in candidates’ performance, particularly in Core Mathematics and Social Studies, according to assessments by Chief Examiners.
This year’s examinations recorded a significant fall in overall passes, alongside a rise in reported irregularities. Core Mathematics experienced the steepest decline, with A1–C6 passes dropping from 305,132 in 2024 to 209,068 in 2025—a reduction of over 96,000 passes. The pass rate of 48.73% means more than half of candidates failed to secure grades required for tertiary education.
Speaking on Channel One TV’s The Point of View with Bernard Avle on December 1, WAEC Head of Public Relations, John Kapi, clarified that the 2025 Core Mathematics paper was consistent with previous years in terms of difficulty, suggesting that the poor results stemmed from candidate weaknesses rather than exam standards.
WAEC identified seven major areas of weakness in Core Mathematics:
- Difficulty representing mathematical information in diagrams
- Inability to solve global mathematics-related problems
- Poor construction of cumulative frequency tables
- Weak deduction skills from real-life situations
- Challenges solving simple interest problems
- Inability to translate word problems into mathematical expressions
- Difficulty interpreting results from cumulative frequency data
In Social Studies, candidates also struggled with understanding and analytical skills. Chief Examiners noted the following weaknesses:
- Inability to discuss government policies aimed at improving citizens’ lives
- Failure to explain how costly funerals impact national development
- Weak discussions on cooperation between Ghana and United Nations agencies
WAEC has indicated that these findings will inform future interventions to enhance teaching methods and learning outcomes across the country.
