When is WAEC 2024 Starting in Nigeria (Registration and Exam)

   In the 21st century, education has become one of the necessities if one wants to have a stable life unlike in the past where one’s life stability in life depended on luck, position from birth, and whatever meagre skills they have to offer. Education brought in a wide variety of skills for people to learn which could help them to change their fortune. 

Introduction

   Education sounds nice and all but there is a catch. Rules were made to govern the utilization of one’s educational prowess in today’s society. One of these rules is the attainment of certificates. Some certificates help in taking an individual to a higher educational ground while some other certificates enable individuals to make use of the skills they’ve learnt over the years. 

West African Examination Council (WAEC) holds an examination every year for students in West Africa who are in the final stages of their secondary schools. This examination is known as the Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (SSCE). Successfully passing this examination will lead to the attainment of the O’ Level certificate. The O’ Level certificate signifies that an individual has successfully passed through primary and secondary school and has attained adequate knowledge and skills from these parts of their academic career. 

This certificate is the minimum requirement if an individual wants to get a job. Of course, high-level jobs can’t be gotten with this certificate, however, with the attainment of the O’ Level certificate, an individual can proceed to pursue a bachelor’s degree in a university under a course of their choice. Higher-level jobs can be obtained with a bachelor’s degree. 

Beginning of WAEC

   In 1948, three big organisations came together to discuss the progress of Education in Nigeria. These organisations are the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate, the University of London School Examinations Matriculation Council, and the West African Departments of Education. During the meeting, they decided to send a scout to check the status of education in West Africa. 

A man named Jefferey was sent. After four months, from December 1948 to March 1949, Jefferey came back with his report stressing the need for a council that will govern education in Western Africa. This led to the agreement of the formation of the West African Examination Council (Waec). WAEC was formed in 1951 to assist the anglophone (English-speaking) countries of West Africa (Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and the Gambia). The vision of the council is to be a world-class examining body, adding value to the educational goals of its stakeholders. 

While the council’s mission is to keep internationally recognized procedures, to keep offering standard and dependable education, to keep promoting sustainable resources development, mutual understanding, and international cooperation. 

Since its formation in 1951, they’ve conducted examinations every single year and a whooping three million candidates register for the examination every year from all the countries involved. An endowment fund was also established under the West African Examination Council to provide education for individuals who are not able to afford the cost of it. 

WAEC 2024

   The West African Examination Council has decided to upgrade their mode of giving examinations. The council has decided to integrate the use of computers in their exams, that is the examinations will be held in computer-based exam format where objective answers will be displayed from a computer screen and answered on the screen. 

The theory aspect however is a bit different as questions will be displayed on the screen but answers will be written down in an answer booklet making for a hybrid-type examination. This upgrade is a massive development from the previous use of paper and pen to write the examination. It should be noted that for the past 72 years of WAEC establishment, the exam has been conducted via written methods. The introduction of the new CBT mode of writing the examination can be considered as the ushering in of a new Era in academics.

 The West African Examination Council has encouraged students to hone their computer skills to the best of their ability as they look forward to making every aspect of their exams computer-based. 

Registration and Exam Date

   Registration for the 2024/2025 WAEC Examination has commenced already. It started on Monday, the 30th day of October 2023, and will run until Wednesday, the 31st day of January 2024. Candidates who are sitting for the examination are advised to register early as registration after the deadline will not be accepted causing the individual to apply a year later. 

The registration fee in Nigeria is ₦27,000. However, it is essential to know that the fee will vary among different schools, especially among the private schools. The examination is going to begin on Monday, the 6th of May 2024, and run to Friday, the 21st of June 2024 when it will conclude. 

Requirements

   Candidates are required to have completed their secondary school education or be in the final stage of their secondary school education. A National Identity Number (NIN) is a must as without it candidates won’t be able to register. Candidates must be members of the West African anglophone countries. A passport, fingerprint, phone number, and email address are needed along with the provision of personal information, such as name, sex, age, house address, state of origin, and nationality. Then candidates are required to choose the nine subjects they will write after which they’ll pay the exam fee and they’re good to go. 

Conclusion

   The West African Examination Council has been around for 72 years and in this period they have helped in the development of West African education. Many successful people from West Africa who have travelled all over the world have used the certificate gotten from the Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (SSCE) to further develop themselves. 

To some extent, a large part of their academic success goes to the West African Examination Council. Do you know more details or have more questions concerning the WAEC examination? Let us know in the comment section and we’ll try our best to assist you. 

Also, check the Best WAEC Results in 2023