The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) says it needs further research to understand why poor performance in Ghana’s core WASSCE subjects keeps shifting from one subject to another.

Director of Public Affairs at WAEC, John Kapi, said the trend requires deeper analysis beyond the explanations contained in the Chief Examiners’ reports.

His comments follow the release of the 2026 WASSCE results, which showed another worrying pattern in candidates' performance in core subjects.

While Core Mathematics recorded a major improvement this year, English Language saw a decline in performance.

The latest figures have renewed concerns about persistent weaknesses in students’ performance and the apparent movement of the highest failure rates among the core subjects.

Mr Kapi said WAEC’s analysis shows different trends across the subjects.

“I think that our analysis is always based on what our chief examiners would tell us. For example, when we look at the performance of candidates in English language over the period, the analysis I have is from 2023 to 2026, and you realise that there has been a steady decline in the performance of candidates in English language,” he said.

He noted that Mathematics, Integrated Science and Social Studies have also recorded fluctuations in performance.

“Mathematics is fluctuating, Integrated Science is also fluctuating, and Social Studies is fluctuating as well, apart from last year that saw a significant dip in the performance of Social Studies.

"It has always been one of the highest-performing core subjects in the WASSCE, as we have seen it indicated,” he added.

The WAEC official said the focus must now shift to how students are prepared for the examination.

“I think that basically what we need to look at is the kind of things that we would feed our children in terms of how to prepare them adequately for the examination,” Mr Kapi said.

He said the Chief Examiners’ reports identify basic weaknesses that should have been addressed before students reach the senior high school level.

“When we look at the chief examiners' report, some of the basic things that they mention as the reason for the failure rate, especially in English language, are things that you expect the children would have mastered from the basic level through to the senior high school level,” he said.

According to him, the summary passage is the major new element students encounter in English Language at the senior high school level.

“The only technical thing that is different in terms of the way they are tested is the summary passage, which is not something that they come across until they get to the senior high school. That is the only significant difference,” he said.

Mr Kapi said the recurring poor performance calls for a more detailed investigation.

“So, we probably need to do a further study beyond the report that the chief examiners give us and see why candidates are, you know, not performing in these subjects in the senior high school,” he added.