WASSCE for private candidates

Who the private candidate series is for

People sit this series when they are resitting a subject to improve a grade, when they have left school and still need the certificate, and when they are adults sitting on their own. WAEC's private candidate page says you may enter one or more core subjects, one or more elective subjects, or both, and should check the combination in the regulations and syllabus. From the 2026 second series, that check includes which curriculum you are on.

Whether you may enter a given series is in the manual WAEC posts for that series. If the manual does not include you, do not assume you can sit. GLearn does not decide eligibility.

Where to register

Open WAEC Ghana. The register page lists a first series and a second series. Choose the one you are entering. The private candidate page links the manual for the series WAEC is running. The official timetable page holds a separate file for each series.

Read that manual before you pay. It is where WAEC states the fee, the opening day and the closing day. This guide does not copy those figures. A finished series is not the next one. If this page and the manual disagree, follow the manual.

The 2026 second series manual, linked from the private candidate page, told candidates to register on the WAEC Ghana site, upload a photo and a signature, choose subjects, pay at a bank the manual lists, and only then choose a centre. It said registration is not valid until the fee is paid, and that candidates capture fingerprints at designated internet cafes before they register. A later series can change those steps. Use the manual for the series you are entering.

1. Open WAEC Ghana.
2. Open the register page and choose the private series you are entering.
3. Read the manual on the private candidate page. Pay only what that manual asks, and only through the route it names.
4. Keep the invoice. WAEC uses it for your index number and admission notice. GLearn does not hold either one.

What people mean by Nov/Dec WASSCE

People still search for Nov/Dec WASSCE. On the WAEC Ghana site the private candidate series is not labelled Nov/Dec. The WASSCE school page says the examination is held in May and June for school candidates and in September and October for private candidates.

For 2026, the files on the official timetable page are separate sittings. The private first series runs from 16 January 2026 to 14 February 2026. The private second series runs from 4 September 2026 to 29 October 2026. The school file is a different set of dates. The WASSCE timetable guide quotes each file. The private candidate page says results of that examination are released in December.

Those dates are what WAEC published for 2026. They are not the timetable for a later year. If you need the next sitting, read the announcement on the WAEC Ghana site. Candidates in Nigeria follow the national office there, on the WASSCE in Nigeria guide, not this Ghana file.

How it differs from the school candidate series

• A school enters its candidates and completes the entry. A private candidate registers as an individual.
• School candidates and private candidates are not on one timetable. Read the file that names your series.
• A private candidate chooses the subjects the manual allows. A school candidate sits the subjects the school entered.
• The centre for a private candidate is on the admission notice. A school candidate gets the centre from the school.
• On the result checker, school and private are separate. Choose the sitting you entered. The WASSCE results guide says where to look. GLearn cannot show the result.
• WAEC's notice of 4 September 2026 says a school candidate for the 2027 school examination needs the full programme from October 2024 to May 2027, continuous assessment scores for every term or semester, and scores in 7 to 8 subjects: 4 cores and 3 or 4 electives. A person who does not meet that notice may sit the private series instead. Read the notice.

The new curriculum and the old syllabus

NaCCA, the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, published subject combination guidelines for the new Senior High School curriculum. Learners in school can exit with 7 to 9 subjects that WAEC assesses externally. Extra subjects, taken only in year one or up to year two, are assessed inside the school and recorded on the transcript. The full tables are in the NaCCA subject combination guidelines. A school still offers only the learning areas it can staff.

For most learning areas the cores NaCCA names are Mathematics, Social Studies and English Language, plus General Science where that table includes it. In the Science learning area the cores are Mathematics, Social Studies and English Language, and Biology, Chemistry and Physics are the mandatory science subjects. General Science is not on that Science table. Physical Education and Health is a core that is not externally examined. Robotics and Coding is mandatory in year two where the school has the facilities, and the school assesses it. It is not a WASSCE paper in those guidelines.

Private candidates are not placed in a school learning area. For the 2026 second series, the registration manual listed two curricula and told each candidate to select one. On the old list the cores were Social Studies, English Language, Mathematics and Integrated Science, with a maximum of four core subjects and four elective subjects. On the new list the cores were Social Studies, English Language, Mathematics and General Science, with a maximum of nine subjects. Additional Mathematics stood in place of elective mathematics. The manual said a candidate on the new curriculum must not select a subject from the old curriculum, and that new curriculum registration was done at the WAEC branch offices.

Those subject lists and maxima are that 2026 manual. A later series can change them. Check WAEC's latest notice, and the manual for the series you are entering, before you choose subjects. Do not mix an old subject with a new one because a friend sat both.

WAEC has said that grading for the school examinations is 70 percent external and 30 percent continuous assessment. The 4 September 2026 notice still requires those scores for the school examination, and it does not print a new percentage. That split is about school candidates. Do not assume it for a private entry. If you need the weighting for your series, check WAEC's latest notice.

The 2026 private first series file on the official timetable page is the old curriculum timetable. The second series manual is the document that printed both subject lists. The dates of the papers stay on the timetable file for your series.

A 6 to 8 week revision plan

This is a study plan for the six to eight weeks before your papers. It is not a WAEC rule, and it does not promise a grade.

1. In the first week, write down only the subjects on your entry, in the names WAEC used for your curriculum. If the entry says General Science, do not revise Integrated Science in its place. If it says Mathematics, do not treat Core Mathematics as a different paper. If it says Additional Mathematics, that is the new name for elective mathematics. Your registration is the list. Check WAEC's latest notice if the two names on a practice page disagree with it.
2. In the first two weeks, rebuild the topics you lost marks on. One subject a day is enough if you finish the work.
3. In the middle weeks, answer past questions. Do the objective paper and the written paper, with a clock. Many subjects put both on the same day.
4. If your subjects have a practical, an oral or a project, give them a week of their own. The timetable file says when. If your series is only six weeks away, fold that work into the middle weeks and keep the last week for review.
5. In the last week, review work you have already done. Do not open a new topic the day before a paper.
6. If the file for your series is not out yet, still practise. When it is out, give the soonest paper the largest share of the week.

Exam day

• Be at the centre on your admission notice before the start time in the official file.
• Read the row for your subject, your paper and your series the night before. Do not depend on a phone inside the hall.
• If the length on the question paper is not the length on the timetable, follow the question paper.
• Follow the rules the invigilator reads.
• After the papers, the result is a separate step. WAEC releases it. This page does not look up a result.

WASSCE past questions

Free samples, no account for the first questions. These pages still use older names. On the new curriculum, Mathematics is the sample titled Core Mathematics, General Science is the sample titled Integrated Science, and Additional Mathematics is the sample titled Elective Mathematics. Accounting on the new list is not the same name as Financial Accounting. Use the name on your entry.

• Integrated Science past questions
• Core Mathematics past questions
• Social Studies past questions
• English Language past questions
• Biology past questions
• Chemistry past questions
• Physics past questions
• Elective Mathematics past questions
• Economics past questions
• Geography past questions
• Government past questions
• Literature in English past questions
• Financial Accounting past questions