WAEC CBT 2027: What We Know and How to Prepare

If you have searched for WAEC CBT 2027, you have probably met two confident answers. One page says every school candidate will write on computer. Another forward says the whole plan was pushed to 2030. They cannot both be right, and a student in SS3 needs something firmer than a forward. Here is what has been reported, what was still unclear on 3 November 2026, and how to prepare so that either answer leaves you fine.

What has happened so far

The story is easier to follow in order.

• January 2024. WAEC held its first computer-based WASSCE, for private candidates only. 8,285 registered. Objective questions were on screen, while essays and practicals were written in booklets.
• April to June 2025. The first computer-based WASSCE for school candidates: 1,973,253 candidates from 23,554 schools. Schools could choose computer or paper, and WAEC later said fewer than 40 schools used the computer mode.
• October 2025. WAEC tested a computer format with objective and essay sections in Ogba, Lagos.
• 13 November 2025. The House of Representatives adopted a motion asking for the computer-based exam to be suspended until 2030, with funding planned in the 2026 to 2029 budgets. It is a House resolution, not a law, and WAEC said it had received no formal communication.
• November 2025. The chairman of WAEC's Nigeria National Committee said 2026 would be a pilot and full computer-based WASSCE would start in 2027, and gave this assurance.

"no candidate sitting this examination will be disenfranchised." Hajiya Binta Abdulkadir, Chairman, WAEC Nigeria National Committee, November 2025

• 2026. For the second year, school candidates could write on computer or on paper. Only 450 of 24,207 schools registered for computer mode. By our count, that's fewer than 2 in every 100 schools (1.86%), even though it's about 11 times the fewer than 40 schools that used it in 2025. When results came out in August, 61.54% of the 1,950,726 candidates had five credits including English and Mathematics, and 167,486 results were withheld for malpractice. By our sum, that means 750,212 candidates missed five credits including English and Maths, and about 1 result in every 12 was held back.
• October 2026. Dr Amos Dangut became WAEC's Registrar, and Suleiman Kum took over the Nigeria office. Kum said computer testing was reducing malpractice.

"CBT has come to stay." Suleiman Kum, Head of National Office, WAEC Nigeria, October 2026

What is still unclear

We could not find an official WAEC statement saying that every 2027 school candidate, in every school, will write every paper on computer, essays and practicals included. Reports in October said entries for the 2027 exam had not been released. Be careful with any page that says the format is settled without showing where WAEC said it.

The date is not settled either. The Federal Government has proposed 11 May to 18 June 2027 for the WASSCE, with results in August. These are proposals, and WAEC's own timetable had not come out when we wrote this. Watch WAEC Nigeria's website for the real one.

How to prepare so either format is fine

The syllabus is what you are examined on, whatever you write on. Most of your time should go to the subjects themselves. The rest is about getting comfortable with both formats, and it takes less time than you think.

Get used to reading questions on a screen

A question on a screen feels different from one on paper. You cannot underline it, and long passages are harder to hold in your head. Do some past questions on a phone or computer every week, with rough paper beside you. Your UTME practice counts for this too, because that exam is already on computer.

Learn to type at a steady pace

If your essay ends up on a computer, slow typing eats into your thinking time. Fifteen minutes a day is enough to begin. Use a school computer room, a family laptop or a nearby café.

Type full sentences, with capital letters and punctuation. An old English letter question is good practice, because it makes you think and type together.

Keep your handwriting strong

Most schools still chose paper in 2026, so write one full essay or theory answer by hand each week, under time. A student who has only practised on screen can be surprised by how tired the hand gets.

Practise with a clock

Computer tests show a countdown, and that alone rattles some students. Sit with a timer on your past questions. Learn to leave a hard question, move on, and come back. Many students lose easy marks at the end of a paper because they fought one hard question for ten minutes.

Ask your school three questions

Your school should know more than any blog as entries get closer.

• Are we writing on computer, on paper, or a mix?
• Where will we write? In 2025 the Minister of Education said future exams would move to designated CBT centres, so ask if your school has been told anything like that.
• What is the approved fee, and what else are we paying for?

That last question matters. WAEC's head of office raised it himself in October 2026.

"We know in the past that schools have been charging more than the examination fee." Suleiman Kum, WAEC Nigeria, October 2026

A word for parents

Your child does not need a new laptop to be ready for this. Some regular screen practice and typing time will do, even if it is shared. If the exam may be at a CBT centre, plan for transport and an early start.

Keep your own head cool as well. Students pick up panic from adults. Instead of forwarding the next scary message, ask the school, then check WAEC's site.

Where this leaves you

Format news will keep changing until the timetable is out. Your readiness in English, Mathematics and your other subjects will not depend on it.

If you want practice that already happens on a screen, Scholarleveling has live classes, quizzes and class notes that work on any phone, with teachers who prepare students for WAEC, NECO and JAMB. It will not tell you what WAEC decides. It can help you get used to learning and answering on a screen while you wait.

Read next: the JAMB 2027 registration checklist, or past questions vs textbooks for WAEC and JAMB.