NECO 2025 results: 60% of candidates passed with credits in Maths and English, while malpractice cases dropped by 61%, the exam body confirms

Registrar, Professor Ibrahim Wushishi, revealed that 1,358,339 candidates sat the exams, of which 818,492 students—representing 60.26 per cent—secured five credits and above including Mathematics and English.

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A broader 84.26 per cent, or 1,144,496 candidates, achieved five credits irrespective of the two core subjects.

In total, 1,367,210 candidates had registered for the exam, comprising 685,514 males and 681,696 females. Among these were 1,622 students with special needs, including 941 with hearing impairment and 191 with visual impairment.

Professor Wushishi noted a significant decline in malpractice cases, with 3,878 candidates implicated in 2025 compared with 10,094 in 2024—a reduction of more than 61 per cent.

He disclosed that 38 schools across 13 states were found guilty of mass cheating and will face sanctions, while nine supervisors from Rivers, Niger, FCT, Kano, and Osun have been recommended for blacklisting.

He also addressed disruptions in Adamawa State, where a communal clash in Lamorde Local Government Area affected exams in eight schools, covering 13 subjects and 29 papers. NECO, he said, is working with state authorities to re-conduct the affected papers.

In terms of performance, Kano State topped the chart with 68,159 students earning five credits including English and Mathematics, followed by Lagos with 67,007, and Oyo with 48,742.

By contrast, the overseas centre in Gabon recorded no candidate with five credits in the two key subjects.

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Looking ahead, Wushishi confirmed that NECO will now examine candidates in only 38 subjects under a revised curriculum to speed up the release of results. The 2025 SSCE was conducted between 16 June and 25 July.