Performance in English Language has declined further in the 2026 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), with 62.40 per cent of candidates obtaining grades between A1 and C6.

The latest figure represents a further decline from 69.00 per cent recorded in 2025.

According to statistics released by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), English Language performance has fallen consistently over the four years covered by its data.

The proportion of candidates obtaining A1-C6 in English Language dropped from 73.11 per cent in 2023 to 69.52 per cent in 2024, then 69.00 per cent in 2025, before falling to 62.40 per cent in 2026.

For the 2026 examination, 315,094 candidates obtained grades between A1 and C6 in English Language.

However, 49,771 candidates obtained D7, while 37,080 recorded E8 and 55,940 obtained F9.

WAEC specifically noted that, unlike Mathematics, Integrated Science and Social Studies, English Language recorded a progressive decline in performance over the four years.

Other core subjects improved.

The decline in English Language performance contrasts with improvements recorded in some of the other core subjects.

Mathematics (Core) performance increased from 48.73 per cent in 2025 to 60.75 per cent in 2026.

Integrated Science also improved from 57.74 per cent to 62.08 per cent, while Social Studies recorded a significant increase from 55.82 per cent to 78.04 per cent over the same period.

WAEC said performance in the three subjects had varied over the four years.