WAEC GCE (WASSCE for private candidates)

The WASSCE is WAEC's exam for the end of secondary school. SS3 students in recognised schools write the school WASSCE in May and June, and their school registers them. Everyone else writes the WASSCE for Private Candidates, which most people still call "GCE": people who have left school, or who want to improve an earlier result. It has the same syllabus and the same grades, A1 to F9, as the school WASSCE.

WAEC's FAQ says these people may register as private candidates:

• those who have written the WASSCE before
• those who wrote the old GCE and passed at least three subjects
• those who passed the Teachers' Grade Two exam

If you are not sure you can register, ask at a WAEC office before you pay.

WAEC posts each series' timetable on waecnigeria.org and on its private candidates' portal. For the school WASSCE dates, see the WAEC timetable.

Registration is online, on WAEC's portal for private candidates. These are the steps the portal gives:

WAEC has not published the fee for the 2027 first series (checked 23 October 2026). You pay when you buy the registration PIN. Ask at a WAEC office for the current price, and do not trust prices you see on blogs.

Yes. WAEC has written the private candidates' exam on computer since the first series of 2024. The questions come up on a screen and you choose your objective answers on the computer. So far, essay and practical answers have been written in a booklet. See how the computer-based WASSCE works.

You must register 8 or 9 subjects, including English Language and General Mathematics. For the 2026 second series, WAEC's portal listed these 30 subjects:

Accounting, Agriculture, Arabic, Biology, Chemistry, Christian Religious Studies, Civic Education, Commerce, Economics, English Language, Foods and Nutrition, French, Further Mathematics, General Mathematics, Geography, Government, Hausa, Health Education, Home Management, Igbo, Islamic Studies, Literature in English, Marketing, Music, Nigerian History, Physical Education, Physics, Technical Drawing, Visual Art and Yoruba.

The list can change from one series to the next. Check the subject list on the portal before you pay. Writing Literature-in-English? See WAEC's set texts for 2026 to 2030.

WAEC GCE is set on the same WASSCE syllabus as the school exam, so WAEC past questions are the right practice. Each page below shows ten past questions with answers and explanations, and the Skolra app has the rest.

All WAEC past questions, by subject and year

WAEC has not given a date for the 2026 second series results (checked 23 October 2026). The 2026 first series results were out by 28 March 2026, about six weeks after the last paper.

Check your result on WAEC's result site, waecdirect.org, with your exam number and the result-checking PIN that came with your registration. Choose "private candidate" as the exam type.

Is WAEC the same as GCE?

WAEC is the exam body. "GCE" is what most people call its WASSCE for Private Candidates. It follows the same syllabus and uses the same grades, A1 to F9, as the school WASSCE.

I missed the registration. Can I still write?

Sometimes. For the 2026 second series, WAEC opened walk-in registration after normal registration closed, and sold registration PINs at its offices until the end of the exam. Ask at the nearest WAEC office as early as you can.

Can I combine a WAEC GCE result with another result?

Many schools accept five credits from up to two sittings, such as WAEC GCE with the school WASSCE or with NECO. Some courses want all five from one sitting. Check the rules of the school and course you want.

What is the difference between WAEC GCE and NECO GCE?

Both are for private candidates. WAEC holds its exam twice a year, in two series. NECO holds its external exam once a year, late in the year. See the NECO GCE dates.

Can anyone sell me the WAEC GCE questions before the exam?

No. People who sell "questions" before the exam are scammers. WAEC cancels all the results of a candidate caught receiving exam questions or answers online.