Reports suggest some students of Accra Senior High School (SHS) and St Thomas Aquinas SHS have spoken about the level of difficulty of the 2026 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) Core Maths paper.
The information gathered indicates the challenges have been attributed to recent changes in the school curriculum, with greater emphasis being placed on problem-solving and real-world applications.
According to some students, the 2026 Core Maths paper contained numerous word problems involving real-life applications, financial mathematics, and linear equations, which were difficult to solve.
Parts of the report by GNA read, “Frank Monyari, a Form Three Science student, said teachers had informed them about the changes in the examination format due to the new curriculum, and they had prepared accordingly.
“We expected such questions, but not in such large numbers,” he said, adding that although the paper was difficult, he remained hopeful of passing.
“I was able to attempt all the questions to the best of my ability, even though it was not easy.”
Another Science student, Shadrack Osei, also acknowledged the difficulty but praised their teacher’s preparation.
“For my class, I would say our Core Maths teacher prepared us well, so we are confident we will do well,” he said.
Sheila Addo, a Form Three Arts student, described the questions as tricky and more difficult than expected.
“I am confident of getting a good grade, although I could not answer some questions the way I wanted,” she said.
At St Thomas Aquinas SHS, Joseph Ashong, a candidate, noted that the questions were quite different from those found in past examinations.
He said he was only able to answer seven out of the 10 questions due to their level of difficulty.
Similarly, Othniel Amoah said he attempted all 10 questions but fully answered only eight of them.
Evans Odei, a Mathematics teacher at Achimota SHS, explained that teachers had intensified preparations this year in response to the changing nature of the examination.
He expressed confidence that candidates would perform better than last year, thereby reducing the failure rate.
“Last year, the paper contained many word problems, and the language was more complex than students were used to, which contributed to poor performance,” he said.
“However, this year, we expect an improved pass rate because students have been better prepared.”
It will be recalled that the 2025 WASSCE result released by WAEC revealed that 220,008 out of 461,736 students failed Core Mathematics, marking the worst performance in the subject in seven years.
Also, “only 48.73% of candidates attained grades A1 to C6 in 2025. This represents a massive collapse from the 66.86% achieved in 2024. A total of 209,068 candidates passed with A1-C6, but 114,872 candidates (26.77%) failed the subject outright with an F9 grade.
Additionally, 131,097 students (30.27%) failed English Language, 161,606 students (39.87%) failed Integrated Science, and 196727 students (44%) failed Social Studies.
A total of 1,021 schools registered candidates for the examination, representing a slight 0.24% increase over 2024, while 5,821 candidates (1.26%) were absent.
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