WASSCE English performance falls to four-year low as 62.4% obtain A1-C6

Performance in English Language has fallen to its lowest level in four years in the 2026 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), according to figures released by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC).

WAEC said 62.4% of candidates obtained grades between A1 and C6 in English, down from 69% in 2025, a decline of 6.6 percentage points.

The results continue a downward trend in the subject since 2023, contrasting with improved performance in Mathematics, Integrated Science and Social Studies this year.

A total of 315,094 candidates obtained A1-C6 in English Language in the 2026 examination.

At the lower end of the grading scale, 49,771 candidates obtained D7, while 37,080 received E8 and 55,940 recorded F9. Together, those figures show that 142,791 candidates obtained grades between D7 and F9.

Four consecutive years of decline

WAEC’s figures show that the proportion of candidates obtaining A1-C6 in English Language declined from 73.11% in 2023 to 69.52% in 2024.

It slipped further to 69% in 2025 before recording a sharper fall to 62.4% in 2026.

WAEC specifically identified English Language as the only one of the four core subjects to record a progressive decline throughout the four-year period covered by the data.

The figures supplied do not explain the reasons for the sustained decline or provide details about the areas of the English Language examination in which candidates encountered the greatest difficulty.

Other core subjects improve

The fall in English performance came despite improvements in the three other core subjects reported by WAEC.

The proportion of candidates obtaining A1-C6 in Core Mathematics increased from 48.73% in 2025 to 60.75% in 2026, a rise of 12.02 percentage points.

Integrated Science performance rose from 57.74% to 62.08% over the same period.

Social Studies recorded the largest improvement, increasing from 55.82% in 2025 to 78.04% in 2026 a rise of 22.22 percentage points.

WAEC said performance in Mathematics, Integrated Science and Social Studies had fluctuated over the four years, unlike the consistent decline recorded in English Language.

The results place renewed attention on English performance because the subject is one of the core components of the WASSCE. However, the supplied figures do not establish how the results will affect individual candidates’

eligibility for tertiary education or other opportunities, which may depend on admission requirements and their performance across several subjects.