The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has raised concerns about possible lapses in security checks at some examination centres after mobile phones were found on candidates during the 2026 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).

WAEC’s Head of Public Affairs, John Kapi, said supervisors and invigilators had been instructed to conduct thorough searches before admitting candidates into examination halls.

Speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show on Monday, September 7, Mr Kapi said the continued discovery of mobile phones raised questions about the effectiveness of searches at some centres.

“Sometimes, you ask yourself a lot of questions about the thoroughness of the search that is conducted because when we held the briefing sessions, we told the supervisors and the invigilators to search the candidates thoroughly,” he said.

He said candidates could be devising ways to conceal the devices, while some searches might also not be sufficiently rigorous.

“It is possible that the candidates devise a means of concealing these from the invigilators who are searching, or that the search is not thorough,” he added.

Mobile phone possession attracts cancellation

Mr Kapi stressed that WAEC’s regulations require the cancellation of a candidate’s entire results if the candidate is found in possession of a mobile phone in an examination hall, regardless of whether the device was used.

“The rule is that once you have a mobile phone, your results are cancelled,” he said.

WAEC cancelled the entire results of 861 candidates for possessing mobile phones during the 2026 examinations.

The Council also cancelled the subject results of 7,434 candidates for bringing unauthorised materials, including prepared notes, textbooks and printed materials, into examination halls.

The subject and entire results of a further 270 candidates were withheld over various suspected examination offences pending investigations.

Teachers face sanctions

Mr Kapi said teachers implicated in examination malpractice could be barred from undertaking future duties for WAEC and reported to the Ghana Education Service (GES) for possible disciplinary action.

He explained that WAEC could not directly sanction teachers because they were not its employees, but it could prevent them from serving as supervisors or invigilators in future examinations.

He said the measures were necessary to safeguard the integrity and credibility of the WASSCE.