NECO Identifies 38 Schools in Exam Malpractice, Blacklists Nine Supervisors

The National Examinations Council (NECO) has uncovered widespread malpractice in the 2025 Internal Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE), involving 38 schools across 13 states.

Announcing the release of the results on Thursday, NECO Registrar and Chief Executive, Prof. Dantani Ibrahim Wushishi, revealed that 3,878 candidates were implicated in various forms of malpractice, including whole-school cheating.

He further disclosed that nine supervisors have been recommended for blacklisting over offences ranging from poor supervision to aiding and abetting malpractice. The affected supervisors include three from Rivers State, one from Niger, three from the Federal Capital Territory, one from Kano, and one from Osun State.

According to him, the implicated schools have been summoned by the council and will face sanctions after due discussions.

Despite the infractions, Prof. Wushishi described the 2025 SSCE as one of the most successful in recent years, noting that results were released just 54 days after the last paper.

Out of 1,367,210 registered candidates, a total of 1,345,339 sat for the examination. Of these, 817,492 candidates (60.26%) secured five credits and above, including Mathematics and English, while 1,144,496 candidates (84.26%) obtained five credits and above, irrespective of the two core subjects.

He added that 1,622 candidates with special needs also sat for the examination, including candidates with hearing and visual impairments, albinism, autism, low vision, and the rare genetic disorder Adermatoglyphia, which causes the absence of fingerprints.