The National Examinations Council (NECO) has released the results of the 2025 Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) External, recording a 71.63 per cent pass rate for candidates who obtained at least five credits, including English Language and Mathematics.
The announcement was made on Wednesday by NECO’s Registrar and Chief Executive, Prof. Dantani Ibrahim-Wushishi, during a press briefing at the council’s headquarters in Minna, Niger State.
The examination was conducted between November 26 and December 13, 2025, while the marking exercise took place from January 5 to January 21, 2026.
According to the Registrar, 96,979 candidates registered for the examination, comprising 51,823 males (53.43%) and 45,156 females (46.56%). Out of this number, 95,160 candidates eventually sat for the examination.
Subject-by-subject performance showed strong outcomes, particularly in Mathematics:
- English Language: 93,425 candidates sat; 73,167 (78.32%) earned a credit or above
- Mathematics: 93,330 candidates sat; 85,256 (91.35%) earned a credit or above
Overall, 68,166 candidates (71.63%) secured five credits or more including English and Mathematics, while 82,082 candidates (86.26%) obtained five credits or more irrespective of English and Mathematics.
Prof. Ibrahim-Wushishi disclosed that 9,016 candidates were booked for various forms of examination malpractice, representing a 31.7 per cent increase from the 6,160 cases recorded in 2024.
He added that five supervisors have been recommended for blacklisting for aiding malpractice, two from the Federal Capital Territory, and one each from Kano, Adamawa, and Ondo states.
In addition, four examination centres have been recommended for de-recognition: two in Niger State, and one each in Yobe and Kano states.
Candidates can access their results via NECO’s official website, www.neco.gov.ng, using their examination registration numbers.
The Registrar also announced the release of NECO’s 2026 Automated Staff Posting Calendar (APC), noting that staff postings will now be fully randomised to enhance transparency.
Staff members can check their posting status at https://apcic.neco.gov.ng/myapc using their date of birth and file number, excluding the “P” prefix.
The release of the 2025 SSCE External results follows the publication of the 2025 SSCE Internal results in September 2025, when NECO reported that 818,492 candidates (60.26%) obtained five credits, including English and Mathematics, out of 1,358,339 candidates who sat for the June/July examinations.
NECO is preparing for a wave of reforms aimed at curbing malpractice, strengthening credibility, and modernising examinations.
As part of these efforts, the Federal Government has introduced a unique learner identification number for WAEC and NECO candidates and mandated the full adoption of computer-based testing (CBT).
Both objective and essay papers are expected to move fully online by the May/June 2026 examination cycle, aligning Nigeria’s examination system with international standards and reducing human interference.
