Nigerian secondary school students will begin taking parts of their national examinations on computers from November 2026, the Federal Ministry of Education has announced.
The reform, which will start with the objective sections of papers set by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and the National Examinations Council (NECO), was disclosed on Thursday in Abuja by the Ministry’s Director of Press and Public Relations, Folasade Boriowo.
Boriowo said the shift to Computer-Based Testing (CBT) is designed to tackle longstanding challenges such as examination malpractice, question leakages, and result manipulation.
“The adoption of CBT represents a critical step toward curbing malpractice, preventing question leakages, and restoring public trust in the examination system,” she said, adding that the change would ensure Nigerian students are assessed strictly on merit and that their certificates retain credibility both locally and internationally.
The announcement came while the Ministry was addressing a recently resolved technical glitch that affected the release of some 2025 WASSCE results. According to officials, the glitch was caused by post-processing errors linked to WAEC’s paper serialisation security feature, but corrected results will be accessible from Friday, August 8.
While no further details were provided on the infrastructure and logistics required for the CBT rollout, the Ministry assured parents, students, and stakeholders of its readiness to implement the change in phases.
Permanent Secretary Dr. Didi Alausa underscored that examination integrity was “not optional” and urged all examination bodies to maintain high standards.
WAEC and NECO will join the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), which adopted CBT in 2013, making Nigeria’s three major examination bodies operate partially or fully on the system within the next two years.
