WAEC, NECO to Begin Computer-Based Tests Next Year
The Federal Government has instructed the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and the National Examinations Council (NECO) to transition to full Computer-Based Testing (CBT) for all their exams by 2026.
This announcement was made by the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, during a monitoring visit of the ongoing examinations in Bwari on Monday, alongside officials from the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB).
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), over two million candidates have registered for the current exams, which are being held across more than 800 centres nationwide.
Dr. Alausa revealed that both WAEC and NECO will begin administering their objective papers via CBT starting this November. “If JAMB can successfully conduct CBT exams for more than 2.2 million candidates, WAEC and NECO can do the same,” Alausa stated, adding that the full integration of CBT for both the objective and essay components will be achieved by May/June 2026.
“We are going to get WAEC and NECO to also start their objective exams on CBT. By 2026, exams which will come up in May/June, both the objectives and the essay will be fully on CBT. That is how we can eliminate exam malpractices,” he explained.
Alausa also mentioned that a committee is currently reviewing the national examination standards, with recommendations set to be presented next month.
Earlier, the JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, addressed concerns over the early scheduling of exams, clarifying that the board’s Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) has always started at 8:00 a.m. He noted that candidates were required to arrive by 6:30 a.m. for accreditation before the exams begin.
“We have always started our exams at 8 o’clock. The first session is at 8 o’clock, the second session at 10:30, the third session at 1 p.m., and the fourth session at 3:30 p.m.,” Oloyede said.
He also dismissed complaints of candidates being posted to centres they did not choose, asserting that investigations had shown no such occurrences. Additionally, he confirmed that more than 1.6 million out of the 2.03 million registered candidates had completed their exams, with about 50,000 still to go.
Prof. Oloyede disclosed that over 40 candidates had been arrested for malpractice, including impersonation and attempting to smuggle out exam questions using hidden cameras. He further revealed that more than 41,000 of the registered candidates were underage.
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