The Federal Government of Nigeria has announced plans to fully utilize both privately-owned and public Computer-Based Test (CBT) centres for the conduct of the school-based Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) starting in 2026.
This initiative, aimed at modernizing the examination process, aligns with the government’s broader goal of transitioning all national examinations to 100% computer-based testing by 2027, as previously announced by the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa.
He said, “WAEC and NECO exams are school-based exams being conducted at their schools. No, we will move away from that.
"It is going to be like (the way) JAMB exams are being conducted at CBT centres. We have thousands of CBT centres across the nation.
“Those are the centres that we are going to use. It’s not the case that students do not have the facilities. Schools do not have the facilities.
“We have enough people. We also have to expand the value chain of these CBT centres. They should not just be to service JAMB alone.
“They should be able to service WAEC and NECO. The proprietors of these businesses, the owners of these businesses, have invested billions of Naira to set up these CBT centres. So we also have to help develop a new value chain in our economy.
“They will create jobs. You see a lot of computers, hardware, and software. And more importantly, we have entrepreneurs in Nigeria who are creating and developing these solutions. These are homegrown solutions. We should all be proud. Today, we should all stand tall and be proud of what we utilise.
“These are the kinds of opportunities that President Bola Tinubu is unleashing in every sector of his economy.”
Alausa further commended NECO for its preparedness to fully transition to CBT, noting that the pilot was a demonstration of capacity and commitment to reform.
“This is the first in the history of NECO, which is conducting its annual O-Level Certificate exams for SS3 students.
“This is a pilot that we pushed to have, and I must tell you, I was very impressed with what I saw.
“I have to commend the Registrar of NECO for the hard work that he and his team have deployed to get us to this stage, because when we decided that we’re going to go CBT, everybody thought this was an insurmountable task, but today, we’ve seen that this is a process, this is a transition that is possible.
“We just have to work hard to get there. We cannot continue with this madness of exam practice, our exams being caught with cheating, leaked questions, both WAEC and NECO. If we allow this to continue, it will destroy the capacity of our youth, of our children.”
He also disclosed a phased rollout of the CBT format across all school exams, starting with objective questions this year.
“I’m a very happy person today that NECO has transited to CBT from paper-based. By November of this year, both NECO and WAEC objective exams will be full CBT.
The move is part of efforts to enhance the efficiency, security, and integrity of the SSCE, administered by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and the National Examinations Council (NECO).
“And by next year, 2026, all the essays and objective exams will be CBT. NECO and WAEC will be joining the league of JAMB. We are making significant progress,” he added.
The adoption of CBT is expected to curb examination malpractices, such as leakages, and improve administrative efficiency.
The government plans to leverage existing CBT infrastructure, including centres used by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), while also expanding digital infrastructure and providing capacity-building programs for educators and students to ensure a smooth transition.
This development follows WAEC’s successful rollout of CBT for private candidates in the 2024 WASSCE First Series and plans for the 2025 WASSCE for school candidates, with approximately 1.97 million students expected to participate across 23,554 schools.
