The National Examinations Council, NECO, has announced plans to release the results of the 2026 Senior School Certificate Examination, SSCE, by the first week of September, following the successful deployment of the Computer-Based Test, CBT, mode of examination.
Registrar of NECO, Prof. Ibrahim Dantani Wushishi, disclosed this on Wednesday after accompanying the Minister of State for Education, Prof. Suwaiba Said Ahmad, on an inspection of examination centres at Redeemers Teap International School, Garki II, and Anglican Girls’ Grammar School, Gudu, Abuja.
Wushishi said the council was optimistic that the results could even be released before the first week of September, enabling candidates to meet admission timelines for tertiary institutions.
He noted that the efficiency of the CBT system had significantly shortened the marking and result-processing period.
The registrar revealed that 1,378,048 candidates registered for this year’s school-based SSCE nationwide, adding that female candidates slightly outnumbered their male counterparts, a trend he attributed to sustained efforts by government and stakeholders to promote girl-child education across the country.
He also disclosed that Abuja currently has about 10 CBT centres participating in the examination, stressing that no technical glitches had been recorded since the commencement of the exercise.
Earlier, the Minister of State for Education expressed satisfaction with the conduct of the examination, describing the CBT format as a major milestone in the Federal Government’s efforts to eliminate examination malpractice and strengthen the integrity of Nigeria’s assessment system.
Ahmad said feedback from candidates at the centres visited showed overwhelming support for the computer-based format, with many describing it as easier to use and more convenient than the traditional paper-based examination.
She explained that the randomisation of questions for each candidate had made cheating extremely difficult, as students sitting side by side received different sets of questions generated by the system.
The minister said the Federal Government would continue expanding CBT examinations nationwide but emphasised that a full transition would only take place after the necessary infrastructure had been provided to ensure that no student was disadvantaged.
According to her, reports from examination officials and candidates indicated that the exercise had been free of network failures and system malfunctions, with examinations commencing on schedule in the centres visited.
She described the seamless conduct of the exercise as evidence that the CBT pilot programme introduced by NECO had matured significantly and was on course to become the standard mode of conducting public examinations in Nigeria.
Also speaking, the Principal of Anglican Girls’ Grammar School, Gudu, Mrs. Nkiruka Nwafor, said the adoption of CBT was equipping students with digital skills required for future academic pursuits and careers.
She noted that the school had already integrated computer-based testing into some of its internal examinations to familiarise students with the technology before sitting external examinations, describing NECO’s transition as a timely and welcome development.
