Why students failed: WAEC outlines 10 key reasons behind failures in 2025 WASSCE Core Mathematics and Social Studies

The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has revealed elaborate reasons down the crisp diminution successful show successful the 2025 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), peculiarly successful Core Mathematics and Social Studies. 

The explanations, provided by the Head of Public Relations, John Kapi, item captious weaknesses observed by main examiners aft this year’s assessment.

Mr Kapi’s disclosures travel a worrying downturn successful nationalist show and a emergence successful introspection irregularities. Core Mathematics recorded the steepest autumn successful grades, with A1 to C6 passes dropping from 305,132 successful 2024 to 209,068 successful 2025, a shortage of implicit 96,000 passes. With lone 48.73 per cent securing the required grades, much than fractional of the candidates were incapable to conscionable the minimum benchmark for tertiary admission.

Speaking connected Channel One TV’s The Point of View with Bernard Avle connected Monday, December 1, Mr Kapi stressed that the mediocre outcomes were not owed to an unusually hard paper. According to the main examiners, the 2025 Core Mathematics questions were comparable successful modular to the erstwhile year. “The situation came from the candidates’ ain weaknesses, not the prime of the paper,” helium explained.

He outlined 7 large weaknesses that contributed to the wide nonaccomplishment successful Core Mathematics. Candidates struggled to correspond mathematical accusation successful diagrams and were incapable to lick planetary mathematics-related problems. Many had trouble constructing cumulative frequence tables and making deductions from real-life scenarios. Others could not lick basal elemental involvement questions, construe connection problems into mathematical expressions, oregon construe cumulative frequence information erstwhile presented.

Social Studies, different compulsory taxable important for assemblage entry, besides recorded worrying lapses. 

He said the Chief examiners' observed that galore candidates could not constitute coherently astir authorities policies aimed astatine improving livelihoods. Others failed to explicate however extravagant funerals hinder nationalist development. There was besides anemic investigation of the forms of practice betwixt Ghana and United Nations agencies, pointing to gaps successful understanding, exertion and captious thinking.

WAEC maintains that these findings volition signifier the ground for targeted interventions to amended teaching and learning outcomes crossed the country. 

Mr Kapi noted that the Council volition proceed to collaborate with the Ministry of Education, teachers and different stakeholders to code the basal causes of the diminution and to fortify candidates’ preparedness up of aboriginal examinations.