The West African Examinations Council (WAEC), Banjul Office, has released the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) results for School Candidates of 2025. This year saw a significant increase in candidature, with ๐ฎ๐ฌ,๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณcandidates from ๐ญ๐ฑ๐ฒ Senior Secondary Schools registering for the examination, representing a ๐ญ๐ฎ.๐ฎ๐ฎ% rise from the ๐ญ๐ด,๐ฌ๐ฐ๐ฎ candidates in ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฐ. Of these candidates, ๐ฏ๐ณ.๐ฑ๐ฒ% ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐บ๐ฎ๐น๐ฒ (๐ณ,๐ฒ๐ฌ๐ฐ) ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฒ๐ฎ.๐ฐ๐ฐ% ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฎ๐น๐ฒ (๐ญ๐ฎ,๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ฏ).
The candidates registered in 40 subjects spanning a broad spectrum, including English Language, Mathematics, Civic Education, as well as Science, Arts, Commerce, Technical, and Vocational subjects.
A total of ๐ต๐ฒ๐ญ candidates, representing ๐ฑ.๐ญ๐ญ% of the ๐ญ๐ด,๐ด๐ญ๐ต candidates with complete records, ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต๐ถ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ณ๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐บ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฏ๐ท๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐, including the critical subjects English Language and Mathematics. Of this group, ๐ฐ๐ฐ.๐ฎ๐ฎ%were ๐บ๐ฎ๐น๐ฒ and ๐ฑ๐ฑ.๐ณ๐ด%were ๐ณ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฎ๐น๐ฒ.
We recognize that while this achievement demonstrates commendable effort by the candidates, there remains substantial room for improvement in foundational subject mastery.
Delving deeper into performance trends for this year. The data shows:
A notable portion of students, though fewer, have excelled across many subjects, ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ณ students (๐ฎ.๐ฐ๐ฏ%) have credit passes in ๐ต ๐๐๐ฏ๐ท๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ , while ๐ฑ๐ด๐ด students (๐ฏ.๐ญ๐ฎ%) have achieved this in ๐ด ๐๐๐ฏ๐ท๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐. This demonstrates that some students are performing at a very high level, mastering a broad range of subjects.
The largest groups of students are clustered in the middle range, with credit passes in ๐ฏ ๐๐ผ ๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฏ๐ท๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ โ for example, ๐ญ,๐ณ๐ต๐ต ๐๐๐๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ (๐ต.๐ฌ๐ฏ%) ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฏ ๐๐๐ฏ๐ท๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐, ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ด๐ฌ๐ฒ ๐๐๐๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ (๐ฐ.๐ฎ๐ด%) ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฏ๐ท๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐. This indicates a promising foundation for many, and with targeted support, these students can boost their performance further.
The majority of students (around 17% and above) have credit passes in at least one subject, showing that initial steps towards academic success are being taken. This is a crucial base, demonstrating engagement and potential that can be nurtured.
These statistics are based on the majority of candidates, ๐ญ๐ด,๐ด๐ญ๐ต (๐ต๐ฎ.๐ต๐ฐ%); ๐ณ๐ต๐ณ incomplete records are still being processed and may influence the final performance data. Additionally, results of ๐ฒ๐ฏ๐ญ candidates flagged for suspected examination malpractice have been withheld pending the outcome of the Councilโs adjudication process, underscoring our firm stance against any form of academic dishonesty.
While the percentage of candidates obtaining credit passes in both English Language (19.8%) and Mathematics (7.3%) remains unacceptably low, underscoring persistent challenges in these foundational learning areas, the overall results of the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), 2025, provide clear evidence of studentsโ remarkable capabilities in several key disciplines.
A thorough analysis of the results reveals that candidates demonstrated outstanding performances in a selection of subjects, with credit pass rates exceeding 50%.
These achievements are a testament to the potential and resilience of our students when equipped with the right resources, teaching, and encouragement. They include:
๐๐๐๐ผ ๐ ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐ป๐ถ๐ฐ๐ โ An impressive ๐ฒ๐ต.๐ด% ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐๐๐ฏ๐ท๐ฒ๐ฐ๐, signaling that students are gaining strong technical and practical skills, critically needed for the economy.
๐๐ต๐ฒ๐บ๐ถ๐๐๐ฟ๐โ With ๐ฑ๐ฎ.๐ณ% ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ๐, the results reflect solid comprehension of core scientific concepts, essential for STEM advancement.
๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น๐๐ต ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒโ ๐๐ ๐ฑ๐ฌ.๐ต%, student performance here highlights the capacity to nurture future professionals in health and life sciences, a sector vital for national well-being.
๐ฃ๐ต๐๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐โ This subject stands out with the highest pass rate, as ๐ณ๐ฌ.๐ฑ% ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐บ๐ผ๐ป๐๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐บ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐.
This bodes well for the nationโs aspirations in science, engineering, and technology fields.
These results present a unique opportunity for the Ministry and stakeholders. While urgent intervention is needed to address the foundational gaps in English and Mathematics, the exceptional performances in technical and scientific subjects must not be overlooked.
By harnessing these strengths, we can propel our educational system to produce graduates ready to contribute meaningfully to the nationโs development agenda.
The Ministry will therefore:
Prioritize sustained investment and targeted reforms in high-performing subjects to further cultivate excellence.
Scale up support for technical, scientific, and vocational education where Gambian students have clearly shown remarkable potential.
Simultaneously redouble efforts to improve foundational learning in English and Mathematics, ensuring a balanced and robust education for all.
These collective actions will help build an education system that not only addresses its weaknesses but also maximizes its strengths, driving The Gambia toward a future where every student thrives, and the countryโs economic and social advancement is secured.
We extend our sincere gratitude to the Council, school principals and their dedicated staff, parents, and all other stakeholders for their invaluable support.
END.
Communications Unit, MoBSE.
