On August 15th, 2025, the Ministry of Education (MOE) released Liberia’s provisional 2025 WAEC results, offering critical insights into the state of student achievement across primary, junior, and senior secondary levels.
National examinations–including the Liberia National Assessment Test (LNAT), the Liberia Primary School Certificate Examination (LPSCE), and the Liberia Junior High School Certificate Examination (LJHSCE)–recorded downward trends in pass rates when compared to previous years.
For instance, the LNAT recorded the lowest three-year pass rate at 82.55% in 2025, while the LPSCE and LJHSCE recorded 86.86% and 87.00% respectively.
At the senior high level, the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) reflected mixed outcomes. Although more than 50% of candidates passed in at least five subjects–including English and Mathematics–subject-level performance revealed persistent weaknesses.
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Mathematics and several science subjects showed fluctuating or downward trends between 2023 and 2025.
Learning Challenges Identified in the 2025 Results.
The provisional WAEC results point to structural weaknesses that hinder effective learning and exam performance:
Subject-Specific Weaknesses – Mathematics and some sciences continue to record lower success rates.
Mathematics and Science are vital for critical thinking, problem-solving, analytical skills, and curiosity.
County-Level Disparities – While counties such as Bong and River Cess recorded strong performances, others–including Montserrado, Grand Cape Mount, and Grand Kru showed downward trends.
Ethical Concerns – Nearly 2,000 WASSCE candidates had results withheld due to malpractice/irregularities, underscoring the pressure students face, limitations of current preparatory strategies, and examination malpractice.
Exam Preparedness and Technology Readiness – With WAEC’s planned introduction of Computer-Based Testing (CBT) in 2026, students must not only master content but also adapt to digital assessment formats.
Alternative Learning Models
Students learn differently, and diversifying learning and exam preparation is an effective way to address education challenges. Traditional classroom-style learning is not enough for students to compete in the global context.
Alternatives like online tutoring, peer-to-peer learning, and learning technologies can fill in the gaps to address diversity in learning styles. Additionally, learning technologies can personalize instruction, provide immediate feedback, and enhance student motivation (Luckin et al., 2016; Holmes et al., 2019).
For high-stakes examinations such as WAEC, familiarity with exam formats and frequent practice can help improve performance and even reduce anxiety around taking public exams.
In 2023, the Center for Integrated Solutions (CIS), a research, policy, and development firm, launched WASSCElab as a remedy to some of the challenges faced by Liberian students in taking public examinations.
Equipped with teaching and learning features, WASSCElab promises to enhance preparation for exams and assist students in alternative learning models to reinforce understanding and promote active learning for overall improvement and knowledge retention.
CIS understands the use of education and technology in the global development space and was able to obtain funding for the WASSCElab platform from the Gates Foundation. Currently, there are over 3,000 students enrolled on the platform.
After exposure to the platform and a brief tutorial during the WASSCE study session, students across the country saw increase in their scores. For example, Grand Gedeh students saw a 50% increase in English and Biology, Lofa reported improvement in chemistry and Montserrado improved in Algebra.
For more than 80% of the students using the platform, this was their first experience with digital learning. This is essential to the information that the WASSCE exams of next year will have a digital component.
The WASSCElab Difference
The vision for WASSCElab is to digitize learning to include examination preparations, performance analytics to improve learning outcomes, and data for school administrators and subject experts for an effective study and preparation model.
WASSCElab uses past exams directly from the WAEC office in Liberia that are uploaded directly to the platform, giving access to students from the comfort of their homes. A survey with the students on the platform reveals a 95% result for easy-to-use and navigation across subject areas and counties.
The aptitude component of WAASSCElab also demonstrated the platform’s ability to as both an academic assessment and a gateway for first-time users.
WASSCElab was recognized by AI for Education, a community platform that makes AI accessible to low and middle-income countries as an effective platform for student learning and examination preparation. Dr. Emmanuel Dorley, Senior Technical Lead at CIS, worked to include Artificial Intelligence into the learning platform to tailor learning to each student and give students an instant explanation and insights on exam materials and format.
The AI-powered assistance on WASSCElab also helps students study smarter by personalizing the lessons to students’ strengths, weaknesses, and even pace of learning. After students begin using the platform, the platform can identify trends in their performance, predict challenges, and design better teaching strategies for students.
Tailored lessons based on students’ ability and subject mastery not only address the learning gap and exam failures, but they also foster digital learning for Liberian students and add to the general conversations of including technology and AI in education for a better future.
The digital revolution continues to advance with Africa lagging due to infrastructure, internet access, and cost, access to technology and digital tools revolution and education. Liberia remains in the very early stage of integrating technology into classrooms due to limited resources, lack of infrastructure, and challenges in rural areas.
At our current pace, Liberia is playing on an uneven field with a strong need for investment in infrastructure, reformed policies to address the digital gap, internet challenges, insufficient funding, and very slow adoption of new technological tools.
In short, addressing the gap will require tools that address multiple areas of teaching, learning, and other challenges. Below are a few concrete examples of how AI-powered tools fit into the gap of addressing these challenges.
The Promise of AI in Supporting Exam Preparation AI-powered educational platforms offer promising avenues for addressing some of the challenges in Liberia. Studies have shown that adaptive learning technologies can personalize instruction, provide immediate feedback, and enhance student motivation (Luckin et al., 2016; Holmes et al., 2019).
For high-stakes public examinations such as WAEC, tools like WassceLab can provide targeted preparation aligned with the Ministry of Education goals.
Proposed Strategies Using AI Tools
Personalized Learning Pathways – AI learning platforms like WASSCElab can diagnose weaknesses–such as recurring difficulties in Mathematics–and generate individualized practice exercises (Woolf, 2010).
Active Recall and Spaced Repetition – Retrieval practice and spaced repetition can improve long-term retention (Cepeda et al., 2006). WASSCElab AI-driven quiz systems can automate this process.
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Simulated Examination Environments – AI platforms like WASSCElab can simulate real exam conditions, familiarizing students with digital test environments (He & Tymms, 2022).
Ethical Reinforcement through Preparedness – By equipping students with stronger preparation, malpractice and irregularities can be reduced.
Teacher, Parent, and School Administration Engagement – WASSCElab analytics can guide teachers to target class-wide weaknesses and allow parents to monitor progress (Luckin, 2018).
To conclude, the 2025 WAEC results in Liberia reveal pressing concerns around subject mastery, county-level disparities, and ethical integrity in assessments. However, they also present an opportunity to rethink how students are prepared for high-stakes examinations.
By leveraging AI-powered platforms such as WassceLab, Liberia can move towards more equitable, efficient, and ethical approaches to learning. This is not an attempt to sell a platform, as this is a free learning tool for students through support from the Gates Foundation.
Rather, this is a call to action to the Ministry of Education and interested parties as the nation prepares for the introduction of Computer-Based Testing in 2026. We must begin to integrate AI into student preparation. This is not merely innovative- it is essential.
Dr. Zuleka Randell Woods is the Chief Program Officer for the Center for Integrated Solutions (CIS). CIS is a Liberian firm working across international development spaces building capacity and bridging the gaps in education, health and technology.
She is an accomplished scholar whose research focuses on decolonization, Africa’s representation, and international development. Her doctorate is in Planning, Governance, and Globalization with masters in education and public health. She teaches in the Graduate program at the University of Liberia and Cuttington University. She can be reach at [email protected].
