The Federal Government has approved an upward review of registration fees for the Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) conducted by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and the National Examinations Council (NECO), with the new fees taking effect from the 2027 examination cycle.
Under the new arrangement, candidates registering for either WAEC or NECO internal examinations will pay ₦50,000 each. This represents an increase from the current ₦27,000 charged by WAEC and ₦30,000 charged by NECO.
The approval was conveyed in a memo dated June 18, 2026, signed by the Director of Senior Secondary Education at the Federal Ministry of Education, Mr. Adeniji Ibrahim, on behalf of the Minister of Education.
According to the memo, the decision followed a meeting of examination bodies with the Minister of Education on March 31, 2026, where stakeholders considered the need to review examination fees and agreed that both WAEC and NECO should adopt a uniform registration fee.
The ministry subsequently approved ₦50,000 as the standard registration fee for candidates sitting the WAEC and NECO Senior School Certificate Examinations from 2027.
The development is expected to have significant implications for students, parents and state governments that sponsor candidates for the examinations.
Education stakeholders have expressed concern that the increase could worsen the financial burden on families, particularly in states where governments do not subsidise examination fees. There are also fears that states currently sponsoring candidates may face higher financial obligations, potentially increasing outstanding debts owed to the examination bodies.
In states such as Lagos, where the government pays WAEC registration fees for public school candidates while parents cover NECO registration costs, the new fee structure is expected to substantially increase education expenses.
Meanwhile, the announcement has drawn criticism from the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), which has called on the Federal Ministry of Education to reverse the decision, arguing that the increase comes at a time when many Nigerians are grappling with economic hardship. The association also faulted the ministry for approving the fee review without consulting student representatives.
The new registration fees will apply to candidates participating in the 2027 WAEC and NECO Senior School Certificate Examinations.
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