Surprising Drop: NECO Reveals Sharp Fall In 2026 Common Entrance Candidates

A total of 58,187 candidates participated in the 2026 National Common Entrance Examination (NCEE) held on Saturday for admission into Federal Government Colleges across Nigeria.....KINDLY READ THE FULL STORY HERE▶

The Registrar of the National Examinations Council (NECO), Prof. Ibrahim Wushishi, disclosed this while briefing journalists in Abuja after monitoring the examination alongside the Minister of State for Education, Prof. Suwaiba Ahmad.

According to Wushishi, the number of candidates registered for this year’s examination represents a decline from the 64,578 candidates who sat for the exercise in 2025.

Despite the drop in overall registration, female candidates outnumbered male candidates in the 2026 examination. More than 31,000 girls registered for the test, compared to about 26,000 boys.

Wushishi attributed the development to ongoing efforts aimed at promoting girl-child education across the country.

“I think this reflects the efforts of the ministry in promoting girl-child education and shows that positive results are being achieved in that regard,” he said.

The NECO registrar expressed satisfaction with the conduct of the examination, noting that reports from centres nationwide indicated that the exercise proceeded smoothly.

He said the council had not received any reports of major disruptions or significant challenges from any examination centre and reaffirmed NECO’s commitment to maintaining transparency, credibility and fairness in the examination process.

The National Common Entrance Examination serves as the qualifying test for admission into Junior Secondary School One (JSS1) in Federal Government Colleges nationwide.

Minister Commends Conduct of Examination

After inspecting selected examination centres in Abuja, the Minister of State for Education, Prof. Suwaiba Ahmad, expressed satisfaction with the organisation and administration of the exercise.

She noted that candidates were orderly, properly seated and adequately supervised at the centres visited, while the examination commenced as scheduled.

“We have been to three schools and I am happy with the conduct of the examination in all the centres visited.

“The students are orderly, well seated and the examination started on time.

“I have also looked at the registration documents of the students and observed that the guidelines regarding the prescribed age bracket for the examination were adhered to,” she said.

However, the minister expressed concern over the number of absent candidates recorded in some centres. She revealed that one examination hall had about 18 absentee candidates and stressed the need to determine the reasons behind their absence.

According to her, understanding the factors responsible for absenteeism would help authorities address any challenges that may have prevented eligible candidates from taking part in the examination.

Ahmad also observed that the centres visited were equipped with the necessary facilities for the smooth conduct of the exercise and reiterated the Federal Government’s commitment to improving educational infrastructure across the country.

Statistics from the examination showed that Taraba State recorded the lowest number of registrations with just 15 candidates, while Lagos State had the highest figure, with 13,228 candidates registered.

As part of the monitoring exercise, the minister and NECO management team visited Model Secondary School, Maitama; Government Science Technical College, Garki; and Federal Government Boys’ College, Garki, all in Abuja.