The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has assured candidates and parents who are dissatisfied with the 2026 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) results that there is a formal process for requesting a remarking of examination scripts.
Speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show on Monday, August 3, WAEC’s Head of Public Affairs, John Kapi, said candidates who believe their results do not accurately reflect their performance have the right to apply for a review through their schools.
“First of all, anybody who is not satisfied with their results has the opportunity to seek or ask for remarking,” he said.
Mr Kapi explained that applications cannot be submitted directly to WAEC. Instead, candidates must initiate the process through their schools, which will forward the request through the relevant District Examinations Officer.
“The process is simple. You go back to the school, and the school, through the district examinations officer, would apply to us asking for the scripts to be remarked,” he explained.
According to him, once WAEC receives the application, officials retrieve the candidate’s examination scripts and arrange for them to be reviewed by the appropriate chief examiner.
“The office would get officers to look for the scripts; they’ll go through them, and invite the chief examiner to come and take a look at each of the subjects,” he said.
Candidates required to pay
Mr Kapi noted that candidates are required to pay a fee for the remarking service because it involves additional work beyond the normal marking process.
“The candidates have to pay because if somebody is asking for remarking, we are supposed to invite the chief examiner and then pay them extra to do the marking for it. That is why we would ask that the candidates pay for the remarking.”
He said he could not immediately provide the exact cost, explaining that the fee varies depending on the nature of the request.
On the timeline, Mr Kapi indicated that the process typically takes a few weeks, although the duration depends on how quickly the application is submitted.
“The process still lasts beyond a couple of weeks depending on how early the request is made.”
Grade changes are rare
Addressing concerns about whether remarking can lead to changes in grades, Mr Kapi acknowledged that WAEC has revised some candidates’ grades in the past, but stressed that such cases are uncommon.
“Yes, we’ve had to adjust the grades of some people who probably came and asked for remarking. But that’s negligible, really.”
He explained that even where marks change after a review, they often remain within the same grade band and therefore have no effect on the candidate’s final grade.
“Most of the time they come and even if there’s a change in the mark, it is still within the grade range. And so there’s no effect whatsoever.”
Mr Kapi also cautioned that remarking does not always result in improved grades.
“In fact, invariably, some of them have actually gone lower than expected.”
To ensure transparency, he said WAEC allows candidates, parents or guardians to inspect reviewed scripts where necessary.
“The candidates are given the opportunity to, or the parent, the guardian, whoever it is who comes with them, they will have the opportunity of taking a look at the script and convincing themselves that indeed that was the actual performance and that’s the grade that the candidate deserved.”
2026 BECE results released
Meanwhile, WAEC has released the provisional results of candidates who sat the 2026 Basic Education Certificate Examination for School Candidates.
The Council disclosed that 3,601 registered candidates were absent from the examination. It also announced sanctions against candidates found to have breached examination regulations following investigations into reported cases of examination malpractice.
