Education

WASSCE 2026: English records four-year decline as pass rate falls to 62.4%

How to prepare and pass the 2024 BECE: Step-by-step guide Mastering the WASSCE: Godwin Aseye's Journey to Exam Success

English Language performance has declined for the fourth consecutive year, with only 62.40 percent of candidates securing grades A1 to C6 in the 2026 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).

The figure is contained in the provisional performance statistics released by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) on Friday.

The data were provided in a statement issued by WAEC’s Head of Public Affairs, John Kapi, on Friday.

According to the statistics, 315,094 candidates obtained grades between A1 and C6 in English Language, representing 62.40 percent of those assessed.

The 2026 figure represents a significant drop from the 73.11 percent recorded in 2023.

English performance subsequently fell to 69.52 percent in 2024 and 69.00 percent in 2025, before declining further to 62.40 percent this year.

The latest results therefore mark a 10.71 percentage-point decline in the proportion of candidates obtaining A1 to C6 over the four-year period.

The decline in English contrasts with the performance recorded in some of the other core subjects.

Social Studies emerged as the best-performing core subject in 2026, with 393,918 candidates, representing 78.04 percent, obtaining grades A1 to C6.

Social Studies also recorded the strongest year-on-year improvement, rising from 55.82 percent in 2025 to 78.04 percent in 2026.

Mathematics (Core) also improved from 48.73 percent in 2025 to 60.75 percent this year, while Integrated Science increased from 57.74 percent to 62.08 percent.

Despite the improvement in the other subjects, English recorded the lowest A1 to C6 rate among the four core subjects in 2026.

The statistics further show that 49,771 candidates obtained D7 in English, while 37,080 received E8 and 55,940 obtained F9.

A total of 512,862 candidates wrote the 2026 WASSCE.

The continued decline in English performance places the subject at its lowest A1 to C6 level in the four-year period covered by WAEC’s comparative statistics.