The National Examinations Council (NECO) has released the results of the 2026 Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE), with 804,948 candidates obtaining at least five credits, including English Language and Mathematics.
Dantani Wushishi, NECO registrar and chief executive officer, announced the results on Thursday at a press briefing at the council’s headquarters in Minna, Niger State.
Wushishi said 1,378,048 candidates registered for the examination, while 1,371,992 eventually sat for the exercise. The candidates comprised 682,352 males and 695,696 females.
According to the registrar, 804,948 candidates, representing 58.67 per cent of those who sat for the examination, obtained at least five credits including English Language and Mathematics.
A total of 1,162,118 candidates, representing 84.70 per cent, obtained at least five credits irrespective of their performance in English Language and Mathematics.
The proportion of candidates who obtained five credits including English and Mathematics declined from 60.26 per cent in 2025 to 58.67 per cent in 2026. This represents a 2.64 percentage-point decline in the performance benchmark.
The 2026 SSCE was conducted from June 15 to July 23 across Nigeria and six countries outside the country such as Benin Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Niger Republic, Côte d’Ivoire, Togo and Saudi Arabia.
NECO also reported a significant decline in examination malpractice during the 2026 exercise.
Wushishi said 1,406 candidates were involved in various forms of examination malpractice, compared with 3,878 candidates recorded in 2025. The figure represents a 64.74 per cent decline.
He attributed the reduction to measures adopted by the council to strengthen examination monitoring and security.
The registrar also commended security agencies, including the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and the Department of State Services (DSS), for supporting the council during the examination.
Wushishi said 1,334 candidates with special needs participated in the 2026 SSCE.
The council made provisions for candidates with various forms of disabilities to enable them to participate in the examination.
The registrar said the results were released 63 days after the conclusion of the examination, following the completion of marking, verification and quality assurance processes.