Final-year Senior High School students across Ghana are set to begin the 2026 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for School Candidates on Wednesday, May 13, with the Oral English paper officially marking the start of this year’s examination.
According to statistics released by the West African Examinations Council, a total of 509,862 candidates have registered for this year’s examination across the country.
The figure is made up of 225,274 male candidates and 284,588 female candidates, indicating a higher participation rate among female students.
The 2026 examination cycle had already commenced earlier with practical assessments and project work for candidates offering subjects such as Visual Arts, Home Economics, and other technical programmes.
However, Wednesday’s Oral English paper will officially usher in the main written examination for all candidates nationwide.
This year’s WASSCE also marks Ghana’s full return to the traditional May–June examination calendar alongside other WAEC member countries following disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in previous years.
In 2020, the pandemic forced WAEC countries to shift the examination period from May to June to between July and September, while the 2021 examination was conducted between August and October.
Since then, member countries, including Nigeria, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and The Gambia, have worked to realign their academic calendars to restore the traditional regional timetable.
Regional statistics released by WAEC show that the Ashanti Region recorded the highest number of registered candidates with 127,702 students, comprising 57,885 males and 69,817 females.
The Eastern Region follows with 70,099 candidates, while the Bono, Bono East, and Ahafo regions together recorded 67,739 candidates.
The Central Region registered 61,303 candidates, while the Greater Accra Region recorded 48,099 candidates, made up of 22,418 males and 25,681 females.
The Volta Region registered 41,622 candidates, while the Oti and Western North regions together recorded 35,620 candidates.
In the northern sector covering the Northern, North East, and Savannah regions, 33,155 candidates are expected to sit for the examination. The Upper East Region registered 15,192 candidates, while the Upper West Region recorded 9,249 candidates.
Education authorities and WAEC officials are expected to intensify monitoring across examination centres nationwide to prevent examination malpractice and ensure the smooth conduct of the exams.
