WAEC questions why core-subject failure keeps shifting from one subject to another

The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) is questioning why poor performance in Ghana’s core subjects appears to shift from one subject to another each year. The Council says the recurring fluctuations in performance require a deeper examination of how students are prepared for the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE). Speaking on Joy News’ PM Express on Monday, Director of Public Affairs at WAEC, John Kapi, said the Council’s analysis shows different trends across the core subjects.

“I think that our analysis is always based on what our chief examiners would tell us.” Mr Kapi said English Language has recorded a steady decline in performance in recent years, while Mathematics, Integrated Science and Social Studies have shown fluctuations. “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.” “Mathematics is fluctuating, Inter-Science is also fluctuating, and Social Studies is fluctuating as well, apart from last year, which saw a significant dip in the performance of Social Studies.” His comments come after the 2025 WASSCE results exposed serious weaknesses in core subjects. Core Mathematics recorded the sharpest decline, with only 48.73% of candidates obtaining grades A1 to C6, compared with 66.86% in 2024.

More than half of the candidates failed to secure the minimum passing mark in the subject. Social Studies also fell sharply to 55.82%, while English Language and Integrated Science recorded pass rates of 69% and 57.74% respectively. Mr Kapi said the latest trends should prompt stakeholders to look beyond the immediate findings of chief examiners.

“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.” According to him, most of … The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) says further research is needed to establish why candidates continue to struggle with English Language at the senior high school level. The call follows another sharp decline in English Language performance in the 2026 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).

WAEC statistics show that 62.40% of candidates obtained grades A1 to C6 in English Language this year. That is down from 69.00% in 2025, 69.52% in 2024 and 73.11% in 2023. The decline makes English Language the only core subject among the four to record a consistent fall over the four-year period.

The other core subjects recorded mixed results. Core Mathematics, which suffered a major decline in 2025, recovered from 48.73% to 60.75% this year. Integrated Science also improved from 57.74% to 62.08%, while Social Studies rose sharply from 55.82% to 78.04%.