The Federal Government has announced that the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and the National Examinations Council (NECO) would fully adopt Computer-Based Testing (CBT) for their exams starting from May/June 2026.
This was disclosed by the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, during the monitoring of ongoing examinations alongside officials of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) in Bwari, Abuja, on Monday.
Dr. Tunji Alausa revealed that WAEC and NECO would begin administering their objective papers using CBT starting this November. He stated that full adoption of CBT, covering both essay and objective components, would commence by the May/June 2026 examination season.
“If JAMB can successfully conduct CBT exams for more than 2.2 million candidates, WAEC and NECO can do the same.
“We are going to get WAEC and NECO to also start their objective exam on CBT,” Alausa said
Alausa emphasized the government’s commitment to fully transition to CBT, noting that by WAEC exams for May/June 2026 will be fully 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,” Alausa said.
Examination standard review
The Minister also disclosed that a committee has been set up to review examination standards nationwide.
He noted that recommendations from the review committee are expected to be submitted next month, indicating broader reforms within the education sector.
JAMB clarifies early exam schedules
Earlier during the monitoring exercise, the JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, addressed concerns regarding the early timing of examination schedules.
He clarified that JAMB’s Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) had consistently started at 8:00 a.m.
“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 3:30p p.m,” Oloyede said.
He explained that candidates were required to be present by 6:30 a.m. to complete the accreditation process before the exams begin.
Oloyede also dismissed complaints about early arrival times, asserting that it was a necessary measure to ensure proper candidate screening.
Centre allocation concerns
The Registrar further debunked claims that candidates were posted to centres they did not select during registration. He said investigations showed that there were no such incidents during the ongoing examinations.
- Oloyede confirmed that over 1.6 million candidates out of 2.03 million registered had completed their exams, leaving about 50,000 candidates yet to write theirs.
- On examination malpractice, Oloyede revealed that more than 40 candidates had been arrested for various offenses, including impersonation and attempting to smuggle out examination questions using hidden cameras.
Additionally, he disclosed that out of the registered candidates, over 41,000 were underage.
