More than 500,000 final-year Senior High School (SHS) students across Ghana are today beginning the 2026 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), with candidates writing the Oral English paper nationwide.
According to the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), a total of 509,862 candidates are expected to sit for the examination this year. The figure includes 225,274 males and 284,588 females.
The examination process had already started earlier with practical and project-based assessments for subjects including Visual Arts and Home Economics.
This year’s Oral English paper is being conducted simultaneously across all member countries of WAEC, marking a return to the council’s traditional regional examination timetable.
The 2026 WASSCE also signifies the full restoration of the May–June academic calendar after years of disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2020 examination was postponed to July–September, while the 2021 edition took place between August and October.
Following the pandemic-related interruptions, member countries such as Nigeria, Liberia, Sierra Leone and The Gambia worked together to realign their academic calendars with the original WASSCE schedule.
Regionally, the Ashanti Region recorded the highest number of candidates with 127,702 students, made up of 57,885 males and 69,817 females.
The Eastern Region followed with 70,099 candidates, while the Bono, Bono East and Ahafo regions together registered 67,739 candidates.
The Central Region recorded 61,303 candidates, while the Greater Accra Region presented 48,099 candidates for the examination.
In the Volta Region, 41,622 candidates are expected to sit for the exams, while the Oti and Western North regions jointly accounted for 35,620 candidates.
The Northern ecological zone, covering the Northern, North East and Savannah regions, recorded 33,155 candidates.
The Upper East Region registered 15,192 candidates, while the Upper West Region recorded 9,249 candidates.
