The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has confirmed a national education concern with the release of the provisional WASSCE 2025 results, revealing a worrying surge in the outright failure rate (Grade F9) across all four core subjects compared to the 2024 results.

An analysis of the official data released shows that the percentage of candidates who failed Core Mathematics outright (Grade F9) has nearly quadrupled, rising from 6.10% in 2024 to an alarming 26.77% in 2025.

Similarly, the failure rate for Social Studies has almost tripled in a single year, from 9.55% in 2024 to 27.50% in 2025.

The Great Collapse: F9 Rates Spike Across the Board

The massive increase in F9 grades signals a dramatic downturn in foundational knowledge among the total of 461,736 candidates who registered for the examination. The steepest increase was recorded in the core subjects that form the basis for tertiary education entry.

The F9 rate in Core Mathematics skyrocketed by 20.67 percentage points, jumping from 6.10% in 2024 to 26.77% in 2025. This means nearly one out of every four students who sat for the exam failed the subject outright.

In Social Studies, the F9 failure rate saw a severe climb, rising from 9.55% in 2024 to 27.50% in 2025. This represents an 188% increase in the F9 rate.

Even the core literacy and science subjects saw failure rates more than double:

• Integrated Science: The F9 rate climbed from 7.12% in 2024 to 16.05% in 2025, an increase of 8.93 percentage points.
• English Language: The percentage of candidates receiving an F9 more than doubled, moving from 5.88% in 2024 to 12.86% in 2025.

Integrity Crisis: Thousands Penalised for Malpractice

The release of the provisional results by WAEC on November 29, 2025, was also marred by an unprecedented crackdown on examination malpractice.

The Ghana Examinations Committee approved severe sanctions against thousands of candidates and dozens of educational personnel.

Key sanctions include:

• Subject Results Cancelled: 6,295 candidates had their subject results annulled for bringing unauthorized materials like notes, textbooks, and printed material into the examination hall.
• Entire Results Cancelled: The results of 653 candidates were canceled entirely for the possession of mobile phones in the examination hall.
• Withheld Results: The subject results of 908 candidates and the entire results of 158 candidates remain withheld pending investigations into various suspected offences.
• School Collusion: Results for candidates from 185 schools were withheld for alleged collusion.

In addition, 35 persons, including 19 teachers, who compromised the integrity of the examination face legal and disciplinary action. Already, 19 of those individuals have been arraigned before court and convicted to fines or prison terms.