Published: August 21, 2026
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MONROVIA — Liberia recorded a significant improvement in the 2026 West African Senior School Certificate Examination, with 33,741 candidates, or 60.4% of those who sat the examination, passing at least five subjects including English Language and Mathematics — a sharp increase from 39.8% in 2025, according to official data released Thursday by the West African Examinations Council.
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WAEC Liberia Head of National Office Dale G. Gbotoe released the results Aug. 20 during the Ministry of Information’s regular press briefing in Monrovia, showing gains across several key performance indicators despite weaknesses in some subjects.
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The official statistics show that 57,388 candidates registered for the 2026 WASSCE, while 55,887 actually sat the examination. Of those who sat, 33,741 met the benchmark of passing at least five subjects, including English and Mathematics, representing 60.37%.
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That compares with 20,586 of 51,719 candidates, or 39.80%, who achieved the same benchmark in 2025 — an increase of more than 20 percentage points in one year.
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The number of candidates passing at least five subjects, irrespective of English and Mathematics, also climbed considerably. In 2026, 43,184 candidates, or 77.27%, passed at least five subjects, compared with 28,576 candidates, or 55.25%, in 2025.
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Performance also improved among candidates obtaining credit passes. A total of 3,245 candidates, representing 5.81%, obtained credit passes in both English and Mathematics in 2026, compared with 2,201 candidates, or 4.26%, in 2025.
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Similarly, 2,268 candidates, or 4.06%, obtained credit passes in at least five subjects including English and Mathematics, more than doubling the 964 candidates, or 1.86%, recorded in 2025.
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The WAEC figures further show that 54,374 candidates, or 97.29% of those who sat, passed at least one subject in 2026. This means 1,513 candidates, or 2.71%, failed all subjects.
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That represents an improvement over 2025, when 1,736 candidates, or 3.36% of the 51,719 candidates who sat the examination, failed all subjects.
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The results also show that 51,039 candidates, or 91.33%, passed at least three subjects, while 47,783, or 85.50%, passed at least four. Another 28,147 candidates, representing 50.36%, passed at least seven subjects.
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Performance varied significantly across the major subjects.
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Among the nine major academic subjects listed by WAEC, Mathematics recorded the highest overall pass rate in 2026, with 44,671 of 54,135 candidates passing, representing 82.52%. Economics followed with 78.96%, Geography with 78.14%, English Language with 75.62%, Chemistry with 75.24%, History with 74.17%, Physics with 71.99% and Biology with 70.37%.
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Literature-in-English recorded the lowest performance among the major subjects, with only 16,505 of 51,606 candidates obtaining passes, representing 31.98%.
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The subject-level results, however, present a mixed picture when compared with 2025.
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Mathematics rose dramatically from a 54.04% overall pass rate in 2025 to 82.52% in 2026, while English Language improved from 58.77% to 75.62%.
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Economics increased from 38.52% to 78.96%, Geography from 62.18% to 78.14%, Chemistry from 64.31% to 75.24%, and Physics from 39.30% to 71.99%.
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Biology also registered a major recovery, climbing from 27.45% in 2025 to 70.37% this year.
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However, History declined from 87.41% in 2025 to 74.17% in 2026, while Literature-in-English fell sharply from 61.48% to 31.98%, making it the weakest-performing major subject this year.
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The 2026 examination also involved more schools and candidates. A total of 1,126 schools participated, compared with 1,048 in 2025. Of the 1,126 schools, 1,125 had at least one candidate passing a subject, while one school recorded all of its candidates failing every subject.
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The results mark one of the strongest year-on-year improvements reflected in WAEC Liberia’s comparative data, particularly in the proportion of candidates passing five subjects including the two core subjects of English Language and Mathematics.
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With 33,741 candidates reaching that benchmark compared with 20,586 last year, the figures represent an additional 13,155 candidates and a 20.57-percentage-point increase over the 2025 performance.
