Some schools are already collecting more than the approved examination fee for the 2027 May/June WASSCE, WAEC’s Head of Nigeria National Office, Suleiman Danlami Kum, said on Saturday, October 17, 2026, even though the council hasn’t released entries for that exam yet. Speaking to reporters in Lagos while inspecting the WASSCE for Private Candidates, Second Series, Kum said the Federal Ministry of Education is now acting “to check those schools that are increasing these examination fees arbitrarily”.
That warning reaches SS3 parents at an awkward moment, because there is no new WASSCE fee for 2027 to collect. The ministry’s plan to move WAEC and NECO to a uniform ₦50,000 per candidate was put on hold in July after public criticism, and nothing has replaced it since, so a school asking for a “2027 WAEC fee” today is quoting a figure neither the council nor the ministry has announced.
We know in the past that schools have been charging more than the examination fee.
The ₦50,000 fee that was approved in June and frozen in July
In a letter dated June 18, 2026, the Federal Ministry of Education directed WAEC and NECO to adopt a uniform fee of ₦50,000 per candidate from the 2027 exams, starting with the NECO SSCE (Internal). Less than a month later, on July 13, the ministry’s Director of Press and Public Relations, Folasade Boriowo, said Education Minister Dr Tunji Alausa had ordered the review put on hold, and that it “will not take effect, as earlier communicated, pending the conclusion of the consultation process”.
The ministry said it would consult exam bodies, state ministries of education, school proprietors, parents’ associations and organised labour before deciding, and it hasn’t announced an outcome. That leaves room for confusion, since a parent who remembers the ₦50,000 headline from July may not think twice when a school quotes a similar number for next year’s exam.
- Ministry letter proposing a ₦50,000 fee
- Fee review suspended for consultations
- WAEC warns schools over arbitrary increases
- 2027 WASSCE entries openNot announcedNo official 2027 fee yet
WAEC publishes the official fee when it opens entries for the May/June exam.
Ask your school for these before you pay anything for SS3 exams
Schools often bundle the exam fee with other charges, such as practical materials, extra lessons, mock exams or a centre levy, and some of those are genuine school costs. The trouble starts when the whole total is presented to you as the WAEC fee. A written breakdown makes the difference visible, and a school that’s charging fairly shouldn’t have a problem giving you one.
Before you pay
- A written breakdown of every chargeThe amount going to WAEC should be listed on its own line, separate from lessons, practicals or levies.
- The source of the WAEC figureWAEC hasn't opened 2027 entries, so any school quoting an official 2027 fee should be able to show where it came from.
After you pay
- A receipt in the school's nameKeep it with your child's documents until the result is out.
- A copy of your child's registration detailsOnce entries open, check the name, date of birth and subjects before the school submits them.
If a school won’t explain its figure, take it to your state ministry of education, which supervises public and private secondary schools in the state, and keep any messages, circulars or receipts that show what you were asked to pay. Kum said the federal ministry is already looking into schools raising fees, so a documented complaint gives officials something concrete to act on.
More than 56,000 private candidates are writing WAEC on computers right now
Kum’s comments came during the 2026 WASSCE for Private Candidates, Second Series, which more than 56,000 candidates registered for nationwide, including about 272 walk-in candidates and over 22,000 in Lagos State. WAEC began computer-based testing for private candidates in 2024, and Kum, who took charge of WAEC’s Nigeria office this month, told reporters “CBT has come to stay”. He also said candidates were searched before entering the halls, men by male officials and women by female officials, to prevent malpractice rather than to catch anyone who carried a banned item by mistake.
School candidates are next in line for the 2027 cycle, and the government’s proposed 2027 exam timetable already places NECO before WAEC next year. Until WAEC opens entries and publishes the fee on its official website, no school can tell you with authority what the 2027 WAEC fee is, so get the breakdown in writing now and hold on to every receipt.
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