Federal Government of Nigeria has increased the registration fees for the Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (SSCE) conducted by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and the National Examinations Council (NECO), to N50,000 per candidate from 2027.
Under the new arrangement, NECO’s SSCE registration fee will rise from N30,000 to N50,000, while WAEC’s fee will increase from N27,000 to N50,000.
The approval was conveyed in a June 18, 2026 memo signed by the Director of Senior Secondary Education in the Federal Ministry of Education, Adeniji Ibrahim, on behalf of the Minister of Education.
FG increases WAEC, NECO registration fee to N50,000, starting from 2027.
According to the memo, the decision followed a meeting of examination bodies with the Minister of Education on March 31, 2026, where it was agreed that WAEC and NECO should adopt a uniform examination fee for school candidates.
The ministry directed NECO to implement the new fee beginning with the 2027 SSCE Internal Examination and notify all stakeholders accordingly.
The development has, however, sparked concerns that the higher fee could increase the financial burden on parents and state governments that sponsor candidates’ examination registration.
There are also fears that states already owing examination bodies may accumulate more debt, while candidates in states where governments do not subsidise examination fees may struggle to register.
In Lagos State, the government currently pays the registration fees for WAEC candidates, while many parents bear the cost of NECO registration for their children.
