WAEC reports surge in exam malpractice, 16 arrested in ongoing WASSCE

The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has reported a sharp rise in examination malpractice during this year’s West African Senior School Certificate Examination for School Candidates (WASSCE), despite tighter measures put in place to safeguard the process.

According to WAEC’s Head of Public Affairs, John Kapi, irregularities uncovered so far include impersonation, the smuggling of mobile phones into examination halls, and the circulation of leaked questions and answers on social media platforms. Some invigilators were also implicated in aiding candidates.

Sixteen individuals have been arrested at various centres, with two impersonators at Ghana College in Kasoa already handed six-month prison sentences, while an accomplice received eight months. At Christian IPS in Kukurantumi, a proprietor and an invigilator were caught running a WhatsApp group to distribute questions and solutions and have since been handed over to the police. In another case, 64 mobile phones were confiscated from candidates at a single school during the Elective Mathematics paper.

Kapi condemned the acts as “serious threats to the credibility of the examination system” and called on school heads to uphold the trust placed in them. He added that WAEC has compiled a list of schools implicated in malpractice, with the scripts of candidates from these institutions now under thorough scrutiny.

The 2025 WASSCE, which began on August 5, is expected to end on September 19, with 461,640 candidates participating nationwide. WAEC has assured the public of its commitment to protecting the integrity of Ghana’s examinations and warned that tougher sanctions will be applied to both candidates and schools found guilty of malpractice.