The Head of Public Relations for the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), John Kapi, has highlighted serious shortcomings in students’ performance in the 2025 WASSCE, especially in Core Mathematics and Social Studies, based on reports from the Chief Examiners.
His comments come after a noticeable drop in overall results and a rise in exam malpractices.
This year’s WASSCE saw a significant decline in grades, with Core Mathematics recording the worst performance. The number of candidates scoring A1–C6 fell sharply from 305,132 in 2024 to 209,068 in 2025 showing a reduction of more than 96,000 passes.
With a pass rate of only 48.73%, the majority of candidates did not meet the minimum requirement for admission into tertiary institutions.
During an interview on Channel One TV’s The Point of View with Bernard Avle on Monday, December 1, Mr. Kapi explained that the 2025 Core Mathematics paper was on par with the previous year’s standard.
He noted that the poor performance resulted from students’ weaknesses rather than any unusual difficulty in the paper.
He listed seven major problem areas in Core Mathematics:
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Struggles with converting mathematical information into diagrams
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Inability to handle global mathematics-related concepts
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Poor skills in constructing cumulative frequency tables
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Difficulty drawing deductions from real-life scenarios
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Challenges in solving simple interest questions
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Weakness in converting word problems into mathematical form
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Trouble interpreting cumulative frequency data
For Social Studies, Mr. Kapi noted that examiners observed gaps in comprehension and analytical abilities. The main issues were:
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Difficulty explaining government policies aimed at improving citizens’ welfare
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Inability to discuss how extravagant funerals hinder national development
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Poor understanding of Ghana’s cooperation with United Nations agencies
WAEC says these insights will help shape future strategies to enhance teaching quality and learning outcomes across the country