2026 WASSCE begins with over 500,000 candidates

More than 500,000 final-year Senior High School students across Ghana are sitting the 2026 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), which begins on May 13, 2026.

According to statistics from the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), the figure comprises 225,274 males and 284,588 females.

This year’s examination also marks Ghana’s return to the regional WASSCE system alongside other West African countries, after years of administering a separate examination due to disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Speaking on JoyNews on Tuesday, May 13, 2026, the Head of Public Affairs at WAEC, John Kapi, said enhanced security measures had been implemented to protect the integrity of the examinations.

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John Kapi assured candidates, parents, and schools that all examination materials for centres nationwide were ready and would be distributed according to schedule.

“We have our mechanisms in place to check the printing of the papers. At our level, we usually do not disclose our modus operandi. There is not going to be any delay. For security reasons, we delayed the printing of the examination papers because we don’t want the papers out there early, to prevent the activities of those who want to compromise the integrity of the exams,” he stated.

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