Final year Senior High School students across Ghana have begun the 2026 West African Senior School Certificate Examination, with more than half a million candidates expected to sit the exams nationwide.
The examination started on Wednesday with Oral English, as students joined their counterparts across West Africa for the regional assessment organised by the West African Examinations Council.
Figures from WAEC show that 509,862 candidates are taking part in this year’s examination. They include 225,274 males and 284,588 females.
The examination cycle had already started with practical and project work for subjects including Visual Arts and Home Economics.
This year’s Oral English paper is being written simultaneously in all WAEC member countries. It also marks the full return to the traditional May and June examination calendar after years of disruption caused by the COVID 19 pandemic.
The 2020 WASSCE was postponed to between July and September because of the pandemic, while the 2021 edition was held from August to October.
Since then, member countries including Nigeria, Liberia, Sierra Leone and The Gambia have worked to align their academic calendars and restore the original timetable for the regional examination.
The Ashanti Region recorded the highest number of candidates, with 127,702 students expected to sit the examination. Of that figure, 57,885 are males and 69,817 are females.
The Eastern Region followed with 70,099 candidates, while the Bono, Bono East and Ahafo regions together recorded 67,739 candidates.
In the Central Region, 61,303 candidates are expected to write the exams. The Greater Accra Region recorded 48,099 candidates, made up of 22,418 males and 25,681 females.
The Volta Region has 41,622 candidates, while the Oti and Western North regions together recorded 35,620 candidates.
The Northern ecological zone, covering the Northern, North East and Savannah regions, recorded 33,155 candidates.
The Upper East Region has 15,192 candidates, while the Upper West Region recorded 9,249 candidates for this year’s examination.
