The Federal Government has announced that the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and the National Examinations Council (NECO) will fully switch to Computer-Based Testing (CBT) for all their examinations by 2026. This was made known by the Minister of State for Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, during a monitoring exercise of ongoing examinations alongside JAMB officials in Bwari.
According to the minister, more than two million candidates are currently taking part in the examinations across over 800 centres nationwide. Dr. Alausa revealed that starting this November, WAEC and NECO will begin administering their objective papers through CBT. He explained that the full adoption, covering both the essay and objective parts of the exams, would come into effect by May/June 2026.
“If JAMB can successfully conduct CBT exams for more than 2.2 million candidates, WAEC and NECO can do the same,” he said. “We are going to get WAEC and NECO to also start their objective exam 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.”
Dr. Alausa also mentioned that a committee is currently reviewing examination standards across the country, with recommendations expected to be submitted next month.
Speaking during the exercise, the Registrar of JAMB, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, addressed concerns raised about early exam schedules. He clarified that the board’s UTME examinations have always begun at 8:00 a.m., and candidates are required to be at their centres by 6:30 a.m. to undergo accreditation before the exams start. “We have always started our exams at 8 o’clock. The first session is 8 o’clock, second session 10:30, third session, 1 p.m., and fourth session 3:30 p.m.,” he explained.
Prof. Oloyede also dismissed complaints that candidates were posted to centres they did not select, noting that investigations revealed no such incidents. He confirmed that over 1.6 million of the 2.03 million registered candidates had completed their exams, with around 50,000 candidates still scheduled to write theirs. He further disclosed that more than 40 candidates had been arrested for malpractice offences, including impersonation and attempts to smuggle out exam questions using hidden cameras. He added that over 41,000 of the registered candidates were found to be underage.
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