The official WAEC timetable for the 2026 May/June West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) has been released. The exam runs from Tuesday, April 21, 2026 to Friday, June 19, 2026 — a period of roughly two months covering all subjects for school candidates in Nigeria.
This article gives you the full schedule, explains how each paper works, and shows you exactly how to build a study plan around the real dates.
The Full 2026 WAEC WASSCE Timetable (School Candidates — Nigeria)
Below is the complete official schedule. Morning papers generally start at 9:30 am; afternoon papers start between 2:00 pm and 3:30 pm.
April 2026
| Date | Subject | Paper | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tue, 21 April | Foods & Nutrition 3 (Practical Planning Session) | Paper 3 | 9:30 am – 10:30 am |
| Tue, 21 April | Home Management 3 (Practical Planning Session) | Paper 3 | 11:00 am – 12:00 noon |
| Mon–Fri, 27 Apr – 8 May | Arabic 3 (Oral), French 3 (Oral), Physical Education 3, Foods & Nutrition 3 (Practical), Home Management 3 (Practical), Music 3B | Various | Dates arranged by the Council |
| Fri, 1 May | PUBLIC HOLIDAY — Workers’ Day | — | — |
May 2026
| Date | Subject | Paper | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tue, 12 May | Hausa 2 (Essay) / Yoruba 2 / Igbo 2 | Essay | 9:30 am – 11:30 am |
| Tue, 12 May | Hausa 1 / Yoruba 1 / Igbo 1 (Objective) | Obj | 11:30 am – 12:30 pm |
| Tue, 12 May | Livestock Farming 3 (Practical) — 1st Set | Practical | 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm |
| Wed, 13 May | Fashion Design & Garment Making 2 (Essay) | Essay | 9:30 am – 10:15 am |
| Wed, 13 May | Home Management 2 (Essay) | Essay | 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm |
| Thu, 14 May | Digital Technologies 2 (Essay) | Essay | 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm |
| Thu, 14 May | Digital Technologies 1 (Objective) | Obj | 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm |
| Fri, 15 May | Foods & Nutrition 2 (Essay) | Essay | 9:30 am – 10:45 am |
| Fri, 15 May | French 2 (Essay) | Essay | 3:30 pm – 4:45 pm |
| Mon, 18 May | Technical Drawing 2 (Essay) | Essay | 9:30 am – 11:15 am |
| Mon, 18 May | Music 2 (Essay) / Physical Education 2 | Essay | 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm |
| Tue, 19 May | Livestock Farming 2 (Essay) | Essay | 9:30 am – 11:30 am |
| Tue, 19 May | Technical Drawing 3 (Sketches, Building & Mechanical) | Practical | 2:00 pm – 4:45 pm |
| Wed, 20 May | Chemistry 3 Practical (Alt. A) — 1st Set | Practical | 9:30 am – 11:30 am |
| Wed, 20 May | Chemistry 3 Practical (Alt. A) — 2nd Set | Practical | 12:00 noon – 2:00 pm |
| Thu, 21 May | Further Mathematics 2 (Essay) | Essay | 9:30 am – 12:00 noon |
| Thu, 21 May | Further Mathematics 1 (Objective) | Obj | 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm |
| Fri, 22 May | Health Education 2 (Essay) | Essay | 9:30 am – 11:00 am |
| Fri, 22 May | Visual Art 3A (Drawing) | Practical | 3:30 pm – 6:30 pm |
| Tue–Thu, 26–28 May | PUBLIC HOLIDAYS — Eid-al-Adha | — | — |
| Wed, 27 May | PUBLIC HOLIDAY — Children’s Day / Eid | — | — |
| Fri, 29 May | Arabic 2 (Essay) | Essay | 9:30 am – 11:30 am |
| Fri, 29 May | Visual Art 2 (Essay) | Essay | 3:30 pm – 5:30 pm |
June 2026 — The Critical Final Stretch
This is where the biggest subjects land. Pay close attention.
| Date | Subject | Paper | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mon, 1 June | Christian Religious Studies 2 (Essay) | Essay | 9:30 am – 11:30 am |
| Mon, 1 June | Islamic Studies 2 (Essay) | Essay | 9:30 am – 11:30 am |
| Mon, 1 June | Physics 2 (Essay) | Essay | 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm |
| Mon, 1 June | Physics 1 (Objective) | Obj | 3:30 pm – 4:45 pm |
| Tue, 2 June | Civic Education 2 (Essay) | Essay | 9:30 am – 11:30 am |
| Tue, 2 June | Agriculture 2 (Essay) | Essay | 2:00 pm – 4:10 pm |
| Wed, 3 June | Mathematics 2 (Essay) | Essay | 9:30 am – 12:00 noon |
| Wed, 3 June | Mathematics 1 (Objective) | Obj | 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm |
| Thu, 4 June | Government 2 (Essay) | Essay | 9:30 am – 11:30 am |
| Thu, 4 June | Agriculture 3 (Practical) — 1st Set | Practical | 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm |
| Fri, 5 June | Geography 2 (Essay) | Essay | 9:30 am – 11:30 am |
| Fri, 5 June | Geography 3 (Practical & Physical Geography) | Practical | 3:30 pm – 5:20 pm |
| Tue, 9 June | Chemistry 3 Practical (Alt. B) | Practical | 9:30 am – 11:30 am |
| Tue, 9 June | Nigerian History 2 (Essay) | Essay | 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm |
| Wed, 10 June | English Language 2 (Essay) | Essay | 9:30 am – 11:30 am |
| Wed, 10 June | English Language 1 (Objective) | Obj | 11:30 am – 12:30 pm |
| Wed, 10 June | English Language 3 (Test of Orals) | Oral | 2:00 pm – 2:45 pm |
| Thu, 11 June | Chemistry 2 (Essay) | Essay | 9:30 am – 11:30 am |
| Thu, 11 June | Literature-in-English 2 (Prose) | Essay | 2:00 pm – 3:15 pm |
| Fri, 12 June | PUBLIC HOLIDAY — Democracy Day | — | — |
| Mon, 15 June | Physics 3 Practical (Alt. A) — 1st Set | Practical | 9:30 am – 12:15 pm |
| Tue, 16 June | Biology 2 (Essay) | Essay | 9:30 am – 11:10 am |
| Tue, 16 June | Literature-in-English 3 (Drama & Poetry) | Essay | 2:00 pm – 4:30 pm |
| Wed, 17 June | Biology 3 (Practical) | Practical | 9:30 am – 11:30 am |
| Wed, 17 June | Economics 2 (Essay) | Essay | 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm |
| Thu, 18 June | Physics 3 Practical (Alt. B) | Practical | 9:30 am – 12:15 pm |
| Thu, 18 June | Accounting 2 (Essay) | Essay | 2:00 pm – 4:30 pm |
| Fri, 19 June | Commerce 2 (Essay) | Essay | 9:30 am – 11:30 am |
| Fri, 19 June | LAST DAY OF WASSCE 2026 | — | — |
Key Exam Dates Every Nigerian Candidate Must Know
If you sit the common core subjects, these are the dates your preparation should orbit around:
- Mathematics — Wednesday, June 3 (Essay morning, Objective afternoon)
- English Language — Wednesday, June 10 (Essay + Objective + Oral on same day)
- Physics — June 1 (Essay & Objective), June 15 & 18 (Practicals)
- Chemistry — May 20 (Practical Alt. A), June 9 (Practical Alt. B), June 11 (Essay & Objective)
- Biology — June 16 (Essay & Objective), June 17 (Practical)
- Economics — June 17
- Government — June 4
- Geography — June 5 (both Essay and Practical)
- Further Mathematics — May 21
Note that English Language has three separate papers on a single day (June 10) — Essay, Objective, and Test of Orals. This is one of the most demanding days on the calendar.
Important Rules Straight from the Official WAEC Notice
WAEC included several rules in the official timetable that candidates need to follow:
1. Question paper time overrides timetable time If the duration printed on your question paper differs from what the timetable says, follow the question paper. This catches many students off guard.
2. Some papers are distributed in advance
- Visual Art 3A — schools receive instructions two weeks before the paper
- Visual Art 3B — candidates receive the question paper two weeks before
- Visual Art 3C — projects must be completed within six months of the exam year
3. Candidates with disabilities get extra time Blind, deaf, and dumb candidates are allowed one and a half times the standard duration for each paper.
4. Verify your own country’s timetable The Nigeria-specific timetable differs slightly from timetables for Ghana, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and The Gambia. Always download the PDF for your country from waecnigeria.org — do not use a timetable shared on WhatsApp unless you have confirmed it matches the official version.
How to Build Your Study Plan Around This Timetable
Now that you have the real dates, here is how to use them:
Step 1 — Mark your subjects only Go through the full table and highlight only the subjects you are sitting. Everything else is noise.
Step 2 — Identify your heavy days Look at June carefully. Mathematics (June 3), English (June 10 — three papers in one day), Chemistry Essay (June 11), Biology (June 16), and Economics (June 17) all fall within a 15-day window. This is your danger zone.
Step 3 — Count backwards from each exam Give yourself at least 2 weeks of focused preparation for each major subject before it appears on the timetable. For Mathematics and English, aim for 3–4 weeks minimum.
Step 4 — Plan around public holidays There are four public holidays embedded in the exam period — Workers’ Day (May 1), Eid-al-Adha (May 26–28), and Democracy Day (June 12). These are not rest days if you have an exam the next morning. Use them to revise whichever subject comes next.
Step 5 — Prepare for same-day double papers Mathematics has both Essay and Objective on June 3 (morning and afternoon). English has three papers on June 10. Physics also has Essay and Objective on June 1. You need to be mentally and physically ready to sit two sessions in a single day for these subjects.
Where to Download the Official 2026 WAEC Timetable PDF
The safest places to get the verified timetable document are:
- waecnigeria.org — the official WAEC Nigeria website (direct PDF download)
- WAEC’s official X (Twitter) handle — @waecnigeria, where the timetable was originally published on March 30, 2026
- Your school notice board — schools are required to display the official printed copy
Avoid relying on unverified social media versions. Timetable errors on shared images have caused students to arrive on the wrong day.
What Comes After WASSCE 2026?
Once the exams conclude on June 19, 2026, results are typically released within 6–8 weeks. WAEC usually publishes results via the WAEC Result Checker portal at waecdirect.org, where you enter your examination number and date of birth to view your score.
For candidates who do not get the grades they need, WAEC GCE (the private candidates sitting) runs a separate series later in the year — the first series typically runs between January and February, and the second series around October to November.
