WAEC Identifies Core Weaknesses Behind Sharp Drop in 2025 WASSCE Results

The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has highlighted significant weaknesses in students’ performance in the 2025 WASSCE, particularly in Core Mathematics and Social Studies, according to Chief Examiners’ assessments.

WAEC Public Relations Head, John Kapi, revealed the findings following a steep decline in overall results and a rise in examination irregularities.

Core Mathematics recorded the most dramatic drop, with A1–C6 passes falling from 305,132 in 2024 to 209,068 in 2025, a loss of over 96,000 passes. The subject’s pass rate now stands at 48.73%, meaning more than half of candidates failed to achieve grades necessary for tertiary education.

Mr. Kapi emphasized that the difficulty level of the 2025 Core Mathematics paper was consistent with previous years, indicating that the poor performance was due to candidates’ weaknesses rather than exam standards.

The seven main weaknesses in Core Mathematics identified by chief examiners include:

• Difficulty representing mathematical information in diagrams

  

• Inability to solve global mathematics-related problems

• Poor construction of cumulative frequency tables

• Weakness in making deductions from real-life situations

• Challenges solving simple interest applications

• Inability to translate word problems into mathematical expressions

• Difficulty interpreting results from cumulative frequency data

For Social Studies, the gaps were mainly in understanding and analytical skills, including:

• Inability to write about government policies that improve citizens’ lives

• Failure to explain how costly funerals impact national development

• Weak discussions on cooperation between Ghana and UN agencies

• Limited knowledge of Ghana’s tourism services

WAEC says these findings will guide future interventions to strengthen teaching and learning, aiming to improve student performance nationwide.