The Head of Public Relations at the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), John Kapi, has raised concerns over significant gaps in candidates’ performance in the 2025 WASSCE, particularly in Core Mathematics and Social Studies. The warning follows a steep decline in overall pass rates and a surge in examination irregularities across the country.
Core Mathematics recorded the most dramatic drop, with A1–C6 passes falling from 305,132 in 2024 to 209,068 in 2025—a reduction of over 96,000 passes. With a national pass rate of 48.73%, the majority of candidates failed to attain the grades required for entry into tertiary institutions.
Speaking on Channel One TV’s The Point of View, Mr. Kapi said chief examiners found the 2025 Core Mathematics paper to be of the same standard as the previous year, indicating that the poor results stemmed largely from students’ weaknesses rather than the difficulty of the exam.
He outlined seven critical areas where candidates struggled:
- 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 questions
- Inability to translate word problems into mathematical expressions
- Difficulty interpreting results from cumulative frequency data
In Social Studies, examiners also flagged gaps in comprehension and analytical skills. Mr. Kapi highlighted that candidates were unable to:
- Write about government policies designed to improve citizens’ lives
- Explain how costly funerals negatively affect national development
- Discuss forms of cooperation between Ghana and United Nations agencies
WAEC stated that these findings will inform targeted interventions aimed at strengthening teaching and learning across the country.
