A viral video showing a lady saying that the cost of registering for the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) is now N120,000 has surfaced online.
In the viral video, which was posted on X as part of the ongoing #30daysRantChallenge, an online protest aimed at demanding good governance in the country, the lady blamed the Nigerian president, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and the nation’s Education minister for allowing the cost of the examination to skyrocket.
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The caption to the 199 seconds video read:
“You people should be ashamed of yourselves for occupying such offices. In 2018, I paid 16K to write WAEC. Now students are paying 120K for same WAEC.”
The post has garnered more than 600,000 views with over 2,500 likes, more than 3,500 likes and over 400 comments as of March 23, 2025.
CLAIM
The cost of registering WASSCE is now N120,000.
THE FINDINGS
Findings by The FactCheckHub show that the claim is FALSE.
The West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) is a standardized test administered by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) to final-year students in senior secondary schools across Anglophone West African countries.
Established in 1952, WAEC is responsible for conducting examinations and awarding certificates comparable to those of equivalent examining authorities internationally. The WASSCE is a crucial milestone for students in Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, The Gambia, and Liberia, serving as a prerequisite for gaining admission into tertiary institutions or joining the workforce.
WASSCE is typically offered in two sittings: the May/June session, which is intended for school candidates (those in their final year of secondary school), and the November/December session, designed for private candidates (those who have left secondary school but wish to improve their grades or meet university entry requirements).
The examination covers a wide range of subjects including core areas like English Language, Mathematics, and Science, as well as elective subjects depending on students’ fields of interest, such as Arts, Commerce, or Sciences.
The FactCheckHub reviewed the website of WAEC to verify the cost of registration for senior secondary students and the result shows that the cost of registration for the examination this year is N27,500 including the bank commission fee of N500.
However, students who apply 24 hours before the examination starts can pay 30,000 instead of 27000.
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A report by Punch newspaper published in November 2024 also quoted the Kwara State Ministry of Education confirming this cost of registration warning students in the state against extortion.
The cost was also confirmed in a memo published on the website of the Cross State Ministry of Education.
THE VERDICT
The claim that the cost of registering for the West West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) is now N120,000 is FALSE; findings show that the cost for the 2025 edition ranges between N27,000 and N31,000 depending on the Nigerian state the student is writing the examination from.
Nurudeen Akewushola is a fact-checker with FactCheckHub. He has authored several fact checks which have contributed to the fight against information disorder. You can reach him via nyahaya@icirnigeria.org and @NurudeenAkewus1 via Twitter.
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