2026 GCE results record drop in performance.

According to a press release issued by the Head of the Transitional Management Team of the GCE Board, Ndi Bernadette Frinwie Ntemna, the overall pass rate for the four examination types combined stood at 67.88% in 2026, down from 75.46% in 2025, a drop of 7.58 percentage points.

The decline was most pronounced at the Advanced Level for general education, one of the required exams for entry into higher institutions of learning. 

At the Advanced Level, 70,739 candidates registered, 69,947 sat, and 43,211 passed, giving a pass rate of 61.78%, representing a 17.6-point drop from 79.39% in 2025. The fall was the worst among all examination categories.

The Board noted that school candidates performed better with a 69.95% pass rate, although this too was down 15.01 points compared to last year. External candidates were hardest hit, with only 42.55% passing, a 22.43-point collapse from 2025.

By school type, denominational schools led nationally with 86.06% pass, followed by special schools with 73.33%, government schools with 68.97%, non-denominational schools with 67.42%, while external candidates trailed with 42.55%.

Despite the national downturn, the North West and South West Regions maintained top positions amid challenges of insecurity.  

The South West Region topped the national table with a 64.98% pass rate, the highest of all ten Regions. The North West followed closely with 64.11%, ranking third nationally, while the Far North recorded the weakest performance at 45.88%.

In terms of subject performance analysis, Food Science and Nutrition posted the highest pass rate at 87.99%, followed by Religious Studies at 86.57%. 

In contrast, Pure Mathematics with Statistics collapsed to just 21.14%, the weakest subject nationally, alongside Information and Communication Technology at 34.04% and Economics at 40.13%.

Furthermore, cases of malpractice rose slightly from 2,751 in 2025 to 2,792 in 2026, but the nature of fraud changed significantly with collusion and copy-work cases tripling from 542 to 1,580, while cases involving pre-prepared materials fell sharply from 2,028 to 1,010.

Pundits say the results reflect the lingering impact of years of disruption in the Anglophone regions, challenges in teaching core science and mathematics subjects, and rising cases of collusion in examination halls. 

As the new academic year resumes, students in the North West and South West Regions still face the same challenges of ghost towns and lockdowns that will still disrupt their academic calendar. 

The GCE Board said transcripts and certificates will be available for collection at centres in the coming days.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3888 of Monday August 24, 2026