The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has cancelled the subject results of 4,108 candidates who sat for the 2024 West African Senior High School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) in Ghana.

Additionally, the council has cancelled the entire results of 483 candidates, withheld subject results for 781 candidates, and withheld the entire results of 209 candidates.

These actions were taken due to various examination malpractices committed by the candidates during the exams earlier this year.

The 4,108 affected candidates were found to have brought foreign materials, such as prepared notes, textbooks, and printed materials, into the examination halls. The results of the 483 candidates whose entire results were cancelled were due to the possession of mobile phones during the exams, while the others were affected by various other suspected offences.

In a press statement issued by WAEC, Head of Public Affairs John K. Kapi explained that the decision to take these actions was made during the 37th meeting of the Ghana Examination Committee held on December 16, 2024.

The statement also noted that subject results for candidates from 319 schools across the country have been withheld due to alleged collusion. These cases are still under investigation.

A total of 460,611 candidates, comprising 212,954 males and 247,657 females, sat for this year’s exams across 1,003 second-cycle institutions nationwide.

According to WAEC, this represents a 2.66% increase compared to the 2023 entry figure.

In 2023, a total of 448,674 candidates were registered for the WASSCE, though 4,609 of the registered candidates were absent from the exams.