- What are the meanings of “Withheld,” “Pending,” “Absent,” and “Cancelled” on BECE results?
- How dangerous are these descriptions?
The release of the BECE result in 2024 and the descriptions such as ‘pending’ and ‘withheld’ results indicated by WAEC on the results of candidates created a lot of confusion from the onset.
The reason for the confusion was that WAEC did not expressly explain the reason and meaning of “pending” BECE results.
“WAEC withheld results” description means the results of a candidate have been put on hold pending investigations into suspected examination malpractice. Such results descriptions can change to ‘cancelled’ if WAEC investigations show that the candidate actually cheated in the examination.
WAEC is expected to put the “Withheld” description on the results of many 2025 BECE candidates. The council has invited over 1400 candidates to assist WAEC in investigating suspected mass cheating. The exercise will take place at all regional offices of the West African Examination Council (WAEC)
The cancelled results description by WAEC shows that the result for a subject or the entire examination has been declared invalid.
This is one of the descriptions students should not be really scared of. This is because the description simply means WAEC has not released the result yet. This was used for the first time in many years by WAEC after the 2024 BECE results were released but without the Creative Arts and Design result.
WAEC had to come out to explain this carefully after the “pending” created tension among students and parents.
“Pending” suggests the results are not yet processed and may be due to administrative reasons, not necessarily malpractice. “Absent” means the candidate did not sit for the examination.
‘Absent’ is another description of worry. It is used by WAEC on a candidate’s result if the candidate did not show up for the examination. For instance, if a candidate falls sick and does not take the exam or passes on before or during the exam period, he or she will have ‘absent’ written or its corresponding symbol.
- Withheld:
Results are withheld when WAEC suspects a candidate of examination malpractice and is investigating the matter.
- Cancelled:
Results are cancelled if a candidate is found guilty of malpractice, either during the examination process or after investigation.
- Pending:
This status is often used when results are not yet available due to administrative reasons, not necessarily related to malpractice.
- Absent:This indicates the candidate did not take the examination for a particular subject or the entire examination.