Best Secrets on How To Pass WAEC Exams With A’S AND B’S

Do you wish to prepare well and pass the WAEC examination excellently by scoring A’s on all your subjects?

Passing the WAEC examination is not a simple task.

The dream of every WAEC candidate is to pass once and for all.

It is also clear that WAEC is now a major factor for gaining admission into your choice university and to study your desired course.

Therefore, many students are doing everything possible to get effective tips that will help them pass and get good grades in all their chosen subjects.

In this article, you’ll learn and get helpful answers today on:

• How to pass English, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Biology in WAEC
• WAEC most repeated topics and questions
• How to prepare and pass WAEC successfully in one sitting
• Syllabus, preparation app, secrets, tricks and tips for WAEC success
• How to read and pass WAEC without stress
• Ways to pass WAEC using past questions
• How to prepare and pass WAEC in one week, two weeks, one month, two months
• WAEC area of concentration
• Mistakes students make in WAEC
• WAEC exam format, guideline and likely questions
• How to make 9 A’s in WAEC
• WAEC lesson and online practice test
• Tips for scoring high in objective, theory and practical this year

Believe me, after reading this post and using the information it provides effectively, you will score nothing less than a “C” in your WAEC subjects.

So, without wasting much of your time, let’s quickly see the tips and secret on how you can pass your WAEC examination without expo.

Getting started…

What is WAEC?

WAEC is an acronym that stands for the West African Examination Council.

As the name implies, it is an examining body for the English-speaking part of West Africa.

It is an examination body established in 1952 with the responsibility of conducting West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), for university and JAMB entry examination, in five West African countries namely: Nigeria, Gambia, Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

At the end of the exams, it awards certificates to its candidates.

This certificate is recognized by examining authorities abroad.

So, if you intend to travel abroad for a degree program, you can use your WAEC certificate.

WAEC Aim and Purpose

Lot of students are yet to know the objectives of the WAEC exam.

So, these are some reasons WAEC set this examination.

• Develop student with a positive mind and approach toward handling academic problems.
• Develop students on how to write examinations by themselves.
• Help students develop technical skills and apply them in their field of study in higher institutions.
• Test students how much they have learned from the class lessons from their SS1 to SS3.
• To prepare students who will further their education in higher institutions.
• To provide a qualitative and reliable educational assessment in its region.
• To understand how each subject will relate to their field in a tertiary institution.

Why Do Students Fail WAEC?

Most students fail the WAEC examination for these reasons:

• Answering questions the wrong way.
• Bad education system
• Bad reading habit
• Dependence on expo
• Lack of early preparation
• Lack of reading instructions carefully
• Laziness
• Not attending classes and tutorials
• Social media distraction
• Studying without past questions and syllabus

So, if you really want to pass WAEC, you must overcome these causes.

Moving further, it is also important to know more about the WAEC examination, especially if you haven’t written the exam before.

Here we go!

WAEC Registration Requirements

• You must be in the senior secondary school in a private or public school.
• Know the subjects you want to register.
• Have the registration fees.
• Get a personal email address and know the password
• Know your date of birth.
• Have a personal phone number.
• Know the correct spelling of your name (Surname, First name, and Middle name).
• Know your local government and state of origin.
• Know your residential address.
• Prepare for the examination.

Number of Subjects Taken by WAEC Candidates

WAEC Candidates are required to enter and sit for a minimum of eight (8) and a maximum of nine (9) subjects.

However, it is advisable to select nine (9) subjects during WAEC registration because it will increase your chances of success in the examination.

WAEC Pass Mark

Getting the acceptable grade and pass mark for WAEC in all your required subjects at once is what is needed to pass WAEC in one sitting.

Materials Needed to Pass WAEC Examination

 WAEC Past Questions and Answers

Over the last few years, WAEC has been repeating all her previously ask examination questions.

Studying WAEC past questions and answers is not only important, but is a must for every WAEC candidate.

 A Stopwatch

In order to master time management, you need to have a stopwatch to use when practicing with past questions.

Time management is important in the WAEC examination and if you do not learn how to manage your time, it is possible to fail the examination even when the questions are easy.

 WAEC Syllabus

A syllabus is a document that contains all the topics from which questions can be asked in a particular examination.

 Notebook

You also need a notebook or big jotter to write all the important things you have learned while studying.

When you write in your notebook, you can easily go back to it later to see what you have learned so far.

WAEC Admission Requirement into Nigerian Tertiary Institutions

Candidates are required to have the CREDIT GRADE in CORE SUBJECTS in order to get admission into a university.

The core subjects are those closely related to your course of study – Mathematics and English Language falls into this core category.

Your core subjects in WAEC will determine the subjects you would enroll in JAMB.

Steps to Passing WAEC Examination in One Sitting

 Be Determined

Determination is one important thing that will help a student achieve success in any examination.

There is no examination you can pass very well with fear in you.

One cause of massive failures and malpractices during examination is students allowing people’s experience and words to discourage them even after reading hard for the exam.

Don’t think and make comments like; “WAEC English is too hard,” “WAEC Mathematics is too difficult to pass”, “Chemistry is impossible to pass.”

Some people use their terrible experiences and words to discourage others that are about to write WAEC exams.

Don’t allow yourself to be carried away by the terrible experiences people will tell you about the WAEC examination.

Whenever someone is trying to discourage you, if you are uncomfortable, you can simply leave the environment.

Encouraging and telling yourself that you must pass the WAEC examination in just one sitting will go a long way to help you make good grades in your subjects.

 Set Realistic Grades You Want to Achieve

If you want to achieve success in your WAEC examination, draft out all the subjects you are sitting for in your examination and give them your desired grades.

Then work on how to achieve your goal.

See an example below:

• Agric Science = A1
• Biology = A1
• Chemistry = B2
• Computer = B2
• Economics = B3
• English = B3
• Geography = B2
• Mathematics = A1
• Physics = B2

Setting a goal ahead will motivate and even strengthen you when you are getting weak.

 Start Reading Now

There have been controversies when WAEC candidates should start preparing for their examination.

While some people opined that 6 months before the exam is the best, some said that 3 months before the exam is preferable.

Some are even of the opinion that candidates should start preparing from their day-one in secondary school and some agreed reading should begin when the commencement of WAEC registration has been announced.

Well, there is no particular answer to this question.

It depends on the intellectual capacity of the person who wants to take the examination.

But, for me, if you want to pass excellently, the best time to read for the WAEC examination is now.

Here’s why.

WAEC covers so many topics for each subject and the fact that you’d be sitting for 8 or 9 WAEC subjects is a sound reason to read for the exam as early as possible.

You can’t pass the WAEC examination by just entering the examination hall and doing some magic.

The earlier you read, the more topics you’d cover and the more topics you cover and understand on each subject, the higher you will score in those subjects.

Late preparation can increase your stress level and eventually lead to poor performance.

Prepare and Stick to a Reading Timetable

Having and reading with a timetable will help you cover up all areas of concentration in your notebooks and textbooks, will give you the opportunity to maximize your time effectively, and to prepare apt for WAEC examination.

When creating your timetable, make sure you give more time to your core subjects you are recommended to pass before going for admission to study your desired course.

For instance, a student who wants to study Biochemistry, must give more time to Mathematics, English, Biology, Chemistry and Physics.

This will help you pass effectively, at least in those subjects.

 Study with WAEC Syllabus

WAEC syllabus is another useful material needed to pass your WAEC examination excellently.

WAEC questions for each of your subject will come from the topics in the syllabus for that subject.

So, you don’t need to read all the topics from your SS1–3.

Instead, to prepare and pass your exam excellently, read only those recommended topics in the WAEC syllabus for your subjects.

Other topics are a waste of time — they won’t come out.

 Read Only Recommended Textbooks

Textbooks are needed for you to understand some questions you might have difficulty to answer.

Along with the recommended topics, go for recommended textbooks that explain topics better and can hasten your understanding.

These textbooks are not compulsory to have, but they are recommended.

You only need to have just one (or two) of the WAEC recommended textbooks for your subjects, and not all of them.

Just make sure you buy the correct editions of these textbooks from a good bookshop.

 Read Your School Notes

Reading your school notes from SS1 to SS3 is also very important in passing your WAEC examination.

Your notes will make you study well and will enhance your understanding as you read your textbooks.

How to Read and Understand WAEC

• Attempt to solve the calculation questions in your textbooks and examples in class.
• Do not check your WhatsApp and Facebook during study hours.
• Do not cram the calculations in your note or textbooks.
• Do not lie down when you are reading.
• Do not read text aloud when you study.
• Learn and understand the steps for calculations.
• Never study on an empty stomach.
• Plan your study ahead of time.
• Read at a specific time every day.
• Study in a serene environment with no form of distractions.
• Study your note and textbooks between lines.
• Suppress every feeling of laziness.
• Understand the concepts on a page before moving to the next.
• When you are having difficulties understanding a topic, consult your old notebooks to help make things easier for you.
• Study your notes with the recommended textbooks for WAEC.

 Avoid Distractions

Distraction is something that will definitely come to impede your preparation to pass WAEC examination.

For you, it may not be your friends.

It may be your job, parents, or something.

If you want to pass, you must be serious about the examination and try to avoid all distractions.

 Study WAEC Past Questions and Answers

Past questions are always necessary for every examination.

If you really want to pass the WAEC exam, you must go through all last year’s past questions and answers because, most of the time, WAEC repeats their previously asked questions, including English comprehension passages.

Over 70% of the next WAEC questions have been asked in previous exams.

So, for every 50 objective questions, 35 have been asked before.

And for every 10 theory or practical questions, 7 are repetitions.

But how can you predict the past questions that will be repeated in WAEC this year?

Well, it has been discovered that the most repeated WAEC questions are often within 10 years interval.

So, here’s what you have to do…

• Get Correct WAEC Past Questions and Answers
• Pick six random years from 1988 to 1998
• Another six from 1999 to 2009
• One last six from 2010 to 2018

Study these 18 different years of WAEC past questions and you’d even see the repeated questions yourself and also understand their pattern.

The more WAEC past questions you study, the more likely you’d see repeated questions in your WAEC and the more repeated questions you see in your WAEC, the higher you will score because they will be questions you have practiced before.

 Write WAEC Mock Examination

To get good grades in your WAEC exam, take part in a mock exam.

The WAEC mock exam is a preliminary examination organized by schools to test and determine the level of student’s preparedness for the upcoming exams.

The nature of the mock exam is the same format as the WAEC exam.

Doing this will help to put you in the WAEC examination condition and also reduce your fear for the main examination.

Do not make the common mistake of not taking the mock exam seriously.

Prepare and write the exam as if it were the main examination.

After the test, you would know your chances of passing the WAEC exam as you know your performance.

 Be Close to Your Teachers (Especially for WAEC Practical)

Most subject teachers always get direct information from WAEC through the principal on what to set up for their subject(s) practical.

Though they might not share all the information with you but they will drop helpful hints.

So, if you can’t be close to one of your practical subjects (Biology, Physics, Chemistry, Fisheries, Fine Art) teacher, at least be close to someone who is close to them, maybe through your class prefect, his assistant, your other classmate or even another subject teacher.

Because just one information can boost your performance.

If your teacher says that your school has been asked to get cockroach and carpet grass for Biology or Agric Practical, this should tell you that the practical will be about the above items.

Likewise, if your school is setting up tripod stands, beakers, Bunsen burners — you should know what that means for Chemistry, etc.

Once you get this idea, start reading intensively on the topics that those specimens or apparatus represent.

 Know How WAEC Grades/Marks Your Paper

Some of your teachers are WAEC examiners; they are familiar with the WAEC rules and regulations and can guide you to success in your examination.

Don’t just prepare for your examination like that, ask your subject teacher questions like:

• How do they allocate marks to candidates?
• How are the answers sheets marked?

If you take their word and answers with seriousness, I assure you good grades in your upcoming examination.

 Join WAEC Study Groups

It has been evidently proven that study groups help a lot of students to understand effectively.

You should join legit and educational WAEC Facebook and WhatsApp Groups if you want to pass your WAEC exam.

Joining these groups on social media will help you get all the latest updates about the WAEC examination for the year.

 Attend WAEC Tutorials and Private Lessons

You may find it difficult to ask questions in your classroom during the school period.

But attending WAEC tutorials and private lessons would help you understand difficult topics by giving you simple explanations of topics.

Ensure that the tutorial you attend is exam-focused.

Do not go to lesson centres where students go to show off the latest fashion, mobile devices and get boyfriends and girlfriends.

They are distractions to your exam success.

15. Write Clearly [Have Good Handwriting]

While WAEC objective papers will have options, theory papers won’t.

So, you’d be required to write out your exam details and all your answers to the theory questions on an answer booklet that will be given to you.

Since WAEC is handwritten, you are supposed to improve in the eligibility of your handwriting so that the person who will mark it will not find it difficult to mark.

Sometimes, teachers who mark WAEC examination answer sheets, give bonus marks for good handwriting and fail those whose handwriting cannot be clearly seen.

So, if you want to get your full marks, I advise you to work on the eligibility of your handwriting.

If your handwriting is ugly, you can make it legible by writing big and bold.

Right Answers + Good Writing = FULL Mark.

 Avoid Examination Malpractice

There may be some teachers and websites that would claim to send you WAEC questions and answers to make money from students.

But it can end in PREMIUM Tears.

To be on the safe side, expect expo but prepare like there won’t be any.

Read enough to do AT LEAST 60 percent of that WAEC subject paper on your own — which will get you a B (or at least C) that you can proudly defend.

Some candidates believe it is absolutely impossible to pass the WAEC examination without engaging in malpractice, but that is not true.

Examination malpractice is no solution for passing WAEC.

The time that you could have spent reading could be wasted on planning to get someone to aid you and also, in the hall, you would waste your time waiting to get answers from someone else.

The West African Examination Council (WAEC) has imposed aggressive punishment on candidates who engage in examination malpractice.

Currently, whenever a student is caught in malpractice during the WAEC examination, he or she will lose writing that examination.

If the case is too serious, the entire center where such an act is detected will be closed down or their results will be withheld.

So, malpractice can cause you serious damage.

 Understand Theory Terms

Know and understand when your WAEC theory question says:

• Describe
• Discuss
• Enumerate
• Explain
• List
• Mention
• Outline
• Show
• State

 Learn How to Draw and Label Correctly

You are likely to be asked to draw one thing or the other in your WAEC practical paper or in subjects like Biology, Chemistry, Agriculture Science, Geography, Economics, Fine Arts, etc.

These are tips to make your drawing attract good marks.

• Do NOT shade.
• Draw to the scale and if none is given, draw BIG.
• Erase neatly.
• Label to ONLY one side of your paper.
• Use a dark pencil.
• Use pencil throughout and NO Biro.
• Write the title of your diagram in capital letters at the bottom of the diagram.

 Rest Well the Night Before Your Examination

You don’t even need to stress your brain the night before your exam.

On the night before your exam, just pick your Jotter and scan through it to keep your brain busy.

Make sure you don’t try cramming anything else you may start confusing your memory.

Your scanning should not be more than needed. Let’s say 2 – 3 hours is okay.

After you scan, eat good food that will help your memory, sleep without thinking about the exam, and relax your brain.

You don’t have to spend your time worrying about your exam.

If you do this, then you are burning and ruining out and yourself and your memory and this can affect your performance in the exam.

Also, make sure you set an alarm to wake you up if your exam is coming up very early in the morning.

20. Always Pray

You are not the only one that can decide whether you will pass WAEC examination in one sitting.

There are some factors that you cannot control, especially after submitting your answer sheet.

It is these unknown factors that you should hand over to your God in prayers.

Pray while you prepare for WAEC, during your exam and even when you are waiting for your result to come out.

In case you don’t know, an examiner can fail all candidates in a centre if there is any trace of examination malpractice.

Also, there is nothing worse than having your examination script marked by the wrong person.

So, whether you are a Christian/Muslim/others, pray to your God the way you know how to.

Ask God for the ability to remember all what you have read before the examination and not to see NO RESULTS at the end.

 Arrive Early to Your Examination Hall

It is very wrong to come late when writing an examination, because:

• The tension and fear on the day of an examination are usually higher. Thus, you are likely to forget something if you try to rush to the examination hall with that tension and fear.
• It is possible that you will not even write the examination if you come too late to the examination hall.
• When you are in a rush to finish the exam because of coming late, you would end up leaving out relevant information in your answers and your work would not be so organized. That’s not good. You would lose marks for it.
• If you arrive too late to an examination hall, it is assumed you have seen the questions already, and you would not be admitted into the center.

So, make sure you come to your WAEC examination hall as early as possible and start revising all what you have read before the examination.

 Carefully Read Instructions and Understand Questions Before Answering Them

WAEC questions are becoming perplexing every day and if you don’t take your time to understand questions, it is very difficult to pass.

You must read instructions and understand questions before attempting to answer them.

Unlike your objective papers, WAEC theory questions are not for you to answer all.

Whichever it is, the instructions are always stated under each section of your WAEC theory paper.

If it is possible, reading the instructions and questions twice will go a long way to help you pass the WAEC examination excellently.

 Learn Time Management

Time management is one of the important things every examination candidate must note.

Limited time is always allocated to each of your WAEC subject paper.

So, you’d need to be fast in answering all the required questions, and the best way to do that is to start with the questions you know.

In the WAEC examination, a minimum of 2hours is given for every subject.

You will surely encounter some tough questions — but what’s the point of wasting time on a question you don’t know when there are many other questions that you know but are yet to be answered?

If you just started the paper (so there is still time), skip those tough questions and return to them after you have finished with all the questions that you know.

But remember to return to those tough questions when you are done with others.

If you cannot finish up your questions before the stoppage time, you may not be given more time to write.

Ensure that you finish up your questions 30 minutes before the stoppage time.

This will help you revise your work and check for corrections.

 Answer Only Questions Meant for Your Country

Aside Nigeria, other West African Countries like Ghana, Sierra Leone, Liberia and The Gambia also take part in WAEC and some section(s) in your theory paper might be for only candidates in any of those other countries.

This will be stated in the instructions.

Only attempt to answer questions under your country section because answering other countries’ questions will earn you zero marks.

 Don’t Forget Compulsory Questions

In your country section, there will be further instructions on how many questions to answer and which one(s) is/are compulsory.

Compulsory questions carry the HIGHEST marks, so if you want to pass WAEC in one sitting with good grades in all your subjects, don’t ignore compulsory questions.

Ensure you answer the required number of questions – Not More. Not Less.

 Answer All Objective Questions

Do NOT leave the 50 objective questions unanswered.

Even when you don’t know the answer, just pick any of the options at random because it is better to guess the answer than to leave it blank.

 Shade Clearly

You’d be given an OMR sheet to shade the boxes to show your WAEC exam details and your answers to the objective questions.

OMR sheets are often marked by computers that are programmed to recognize only dark shades.

So, when you shade faintly, the computer will assume that you didn’t shade any answer for that box and no mark will be awarded for that question.

So, to prevent such computer error from withholding your result or reducing your total objective score for that WAEC subject, ensure that all your shadings are bold and dark enough to be easily seen.

Use pencils that give darker shades on paper. HBs are recommended.

What’s the Difference between WAEC and NECO?

WAEC is International while NECO is a national examination.

WAEC is for only five West African countries, namely: Nigeria, Gambia, Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone, while NECO is only for Nigerian students.

What is the Structure of WAEC Questions?

WAEC examination questions booklets are divided into two sections: Section A (Objective) and Section B (Theory).

• Objective: Unlike the theory part, the objective part comprises questions, where options will be given for you to choose from (they are usually the first part of your question paper).
• Theory: Here, you will be asked to answer questions with no option. You are expected to give detail on the questions you will be asked, in this part.

Is WAEC difficult to pass?

WAEC isn’t difficult to pass.

The reason is that the board will set no question beyond what you’ve been taught in school and to ensure student do well in their exams, they also release syllabus for each subject but many candidates ignore this and keep reading the whole content of the textbook including some unnecessary book.

Is WAEC Better than NECO?

A former Commissioner of Education, Prof. Ngozi Osarenren said that the regional examination body WAEC (West African Examination Council) is better and more effective than its Nigerian counterpart, the National Examination Council (NECO).

She also opined that the regional examination body, WAEC, is more competitive, harder, better and can be used in any region of the continent as it is the same exam written across the West African sub-region.

How Do I Answer WAEC Questions?

The West African Examination Council (WAEC) sets examination questions not only to assign grades but also to figure out how well you know a subject, and how fast you can solve problems on that subject, i.e., you are tested for both speed and accuracy.

The best way to answer WAEC questions is to prepare for the exam and be confident about your answers.

• Learn how to answer multiple-choice and essay questions.
• Do not allow yourself to get overwhelmed with anxiety. Fear prevents you from utilizing your full potential and will make you choose the wrong options and not perform well in your exam.
• I recommend you do not waste time with unfamiliar questions.
• Attempt the questions that you know before tackling other problems.
• Learn to work on your own inside the exam hall. Do not make the mistake of trying to collaborate with other classmates inside the exam hall.
• As you decide to work alone, your brain will make you study harder for your exams.
• It is necessary to obey the instructions of the WAEC officials in your exam centre. Violating any of the rules may lead you to failure.
• Never be in a rush to answer questions on the exam.
• Read the instructions in the question paper before you begin the test.

How to Pass WAEC Mathematics

Passing WAEC mathematics isn’t that hard as most students think.

You need to understand the basic principle of how to solve the problems.

After you know the laws of the calculations, you can then solve questions.

Mathematics in WAEC is divided into objective (50 questions) and theory (this is divided into section A and section B).

Your success in WAEC mathematics begins if you can score a minimum of 35 out of the 50 questions on the objective.

You need to ensure that you answer correctly 3 questions out of the 5 compulsory questions in section A of the theory.

The same also applies to section B.

There are certain topics you need to master in the WAEC syllabus (MATHEMATICS): algebra, simultaneous equation, probability, statistics, inequality, set, circle geometry, word problem, indices, etc.

How to Get WAEC Past Questions?

• You can get WAEC past questions online.
• They are also sold in good bookshops around you.
• The school where you registered could offer to give you past questions.
• Check if there is a WAEC questions app for your school on Google Playstore.

What is the Pass Mark for WAEC?

The pass mark for WAEC in 2023 is:

• A1 (Excellent)
• B2 (Very Good)
• B3 (Good)
• C4, C5 and C6 (Credit)
• D7 and E8 (Pass)

Is GCE harder than WAEC?

Both GCE and WAEC examination are easy if you are well prepared.

But WAEC requires more preparation and critical thinking.

Is E8 a Pass in WAEC?

Of course, E8 is a pass in WASSCE, but you don’t want to have it in Mathematics, English language or any other 3 required subjects for your course of study in any tertiary institution.

Is it too late to prepare for WAEC?

It is never too late to start preparations for your WAEC.

Some tutors might advise you to start 6 months before the exams, or 3 months before the exam, and so forth.

Well, it is never too late and never too early.

Why Does WAEC Seize Results?

So many candidates will say, “I have not seen my WAEC result yet”.

This happens especially when your result has been withheld.

Malpractice is one thing that can make WAEC withhold your 2023 result.

You need to be careful in your plans to engage in malpractice.

Will WAEC punish students that engage in Examination Malpractice?

Yes, WAEC has severe punishments and penalties for all those that engage in examination malpractice.

They do this to show that they do not support examination malpractice and also, in order to be recognized around the world.

According to WAEC regulations, when a student is caught cheating, the examination will be forfeited.

If gross cheating is detected, the entire center will have its results cancelled.

Can I Gain Admission with WAEC in 2023?

Yes, your admission can be sure of this year with your excellent WAEC result.

What Next After WAEC?

The next thing after WAEC is to rest and later start preparing to take NECO (optional) and Post UTME.

So, after passing WAEC, get ready for your choice University Post UTME Screening Exercise after you must have seen your result.

No time is too late to prepare for WAEC.

Passing the WAEC examination with excellent grades is not magic.

You must first work hard and be smart.

So, I advise you to read everything in this article again and digest it in your memory.

You can even save this page in your browser so that you can easily open it and read.

With the tips I have shared in this article, you can pass your upcoming WAEC examination once and for all without examination malpractice.

Hope you enjoyed this article on how to pass the WAEC examination easily?