WAEC GCE Registration 2026: Walk-in Till 29 Oct, Fee, 2027 Dates

Walk-in WAEC GCE registration is still open at WAEC offices until Thursday, 29 October 2026. Normal online entries closed on 18 September. If your papers are already over, aim for the January/February 2027 First Series instead, and get your documents and subjects sorted before that window opens.

GCE is just the everyday name for the WASSCE for Private Candidates, and people sit it to get O'Level results for the first time or to patch up a weak grade.

Is WAEC GCE registration still on?

Only for walk-ins. When we checked WAEC's private candidate portal on 2 October, a banner sent walk-in candidates to the nearest WAEC office for their PIN. The footer gave 29 October as the last day.

You may have seen 31 July elsewhere. Vanguard's May guide gave that date, but the portal kept normal entries running until mid-September, so older articles are simply out of date.

There's a catch. WAEC's final timetable has the exam running from 4 September to 28 October. Some papers are done.

Check your subjects first. If the English or Maths paper is already over, paying now makes little sense, and you're better off keeping that money for the First Series in January.

And the 2027 First Series?

WAEC hasn't announced dates. Last cycle gives a fair idea, though. The Whistler reported a WAEC post from 24 December 2025 saying First Series registration was "still ongoing", and Premium Times said the exam began in late January. On that pattern, expect the window to be open by December, but don't plan around it as a fixed date until WAEC confirms.

What should you sort out before the window opens?

Most of the work happens before you touch the portal. Gather these:

• A phone number and email you'll still be using next year. WAEC makes the phone number compulsory.
• Your name exactly as it reads on your birth certificate or NIN, 40 characters at most, spaces included.
• Eight or nine subjects. English Language and Mathematics come already ticked.
• An exam town you can reach for every paper. You can't change it after you submit.

Here's a common case. You have a credit in English from your school WAEC, but Mathematics came back as a D7, and the course you want at university needs a credit in both. Plenty of candidates in that spot sit GCE to combine two results, so ask the university's admissions office whether your course accepts two sittings before you build your subject list around it.

Middle names cause trouble. If your birth certificate carries one that your NIN doesn't, pick a version now and use it everywhere, because WAEC prints exactly what you type on the form. Same with spelling. Oluwaseun on one document and Seun on another is the kind of mismatch that sends people back to a WAEC office later.

Exam towns are worth a trip.

Vanguard's guide tells candidates to ask at their nearest WAEC office which towns are available, and the system then places you in a centre inside the town you choose. Two buses each way gets old by the fifth paper.

The portal doesn't list what walk-in candidates should carry, so take your birth certificate or NIN slip and a pen, and ask at the desk before you join the queue.

Fingerprints and the webcam photo

WAEC scans your fingerprints at registration so it can confirm you're the person in the exam hall.

Its registration guide gives two options. Download WAEC's capture software if you own a fingerprint scanner, or visit a registration centre that has one. Either route works.

The photo is stricter than it looks. WAEC's guide asks for a USB webcam of at least 2 megapixels and 720p, and it recommends the Microsoft LifeCam HD 3000 by name. Plenty of old laptop cameras won't pass. If yours looks grainy, a business centre with a newer webcam is the easier fix, and a small fee beats a blurry picture that follows you around for years. That picture goes on your photocard and on your certificate. Retake it if it's blurry.

How much does the PIN cost?

Vanguard's May 2026 guide put the second series fee at about ₦37,000. WAEC's portal showed no price when we looked, and the First Series fee hasn't been announced, so confirm the amount at a WAEC office before you pay.

Prices as at 2 October 2026.

Item	Where you pay	Price	After cashback
Registration fee, 2026 second series	WAEC (Vanguard, May 2026)	About ₦37,000	No cashback
AidaPay: WASSCE PIN for Private Candidates	Online, in the app	₦37,500 (₦37.50 cashback)	₦37,462.50
Walk-in PIN, until 29 October	Any WAEC office	Ask at the office	No cashback

Walk-in candidates should buy at the office, as the portal says. An online PIN won't help a walk-in entry.

When the next online window opens, check today's WAEC registration PIN price and make sure it covers the series you're entering. Registering two children means buying two PINs, since each child needs their own form, photo and fingerprints.

Budget a little extra too.

Transport to the registration centre, printing at the business centre and a possible second trip when the scanner is down all add up, and none of them are in the PIN price.

Registering on the day, step by step

You can save and edit the form up to three times. After Submit, it's locked.

1. Buy one PIN per candidate. On AidaPay, go to Home > Education > WAEC registration PIN, choose the quantity and confirm with your PIN. The PIN and serial appear on the receipt and in Transactions. Walk-in candidates buy theirs at a WAEC office.
2. Open waeconline.org.ng and follow the e-Registration link for private candidates, which leads to the WAEC GCE registration portal at registration.waecdirect.org.
3. Click Start Registration and enter the PIN and serial.
4. Capture your fingerprints, with your own scanner or at a centre.
5. Fill in your personal and contact details, then take your webcam photo in good light.
6. Pick your state and exam town, then add the rest of your subjects.
7. Tick the declaration boxes, click Accept, read the preview slowly and Submit.
8. Print your admission notice and photocard.

Treat the PIN and serial like an account number and password. Keep them together, and keep them out of group chats. Parents filling the form for a son, daughter or younger sibling should sit with them. They have to be there for the fingerprints and photo anyway, and they know which subjects they actually want to write.

Once you submit, the portal gives you an examination number. Write it down and keep it with your receipt somewhere safe until results are out, because you'll need that number again on the day you check them.

What if the PIN fails or you miss 29 October?

Usually it's a typo. Compare the serial and PIN with your receipt one character at a time, because a zero and the letter O look almost identical on a small screen. Then check that the address bar says registration.waecdirect.org and not a look-alike site, since anything you type into a fake page goes straight to whoever runs it.

Bought it on AidaPay and it says pending? Requery it in Transactions. If it still hasn't arrived, raise a ticket under Settings > Support with the transaction reference (see AidaPay help and support).

WAEC customer care is on 0700 828 3272 if the portal won't load your form at all.

You can't edit a submitted form online. Take your receipt, admission notice and a photocopy of your birth certificate or NIN slip to the nearest WAEC office, and go early.

If you miss 29 October, this year's second series is gone. November is your month to get documents and subjects in order so you can register in the first week of the First Series window.

We'll update this page when WAEC announces the official 2027 dates.

Frequently asked questions

Published 2 October 2026. Prices and codes change - if you spot one that has moved, tell us and we will fix it.