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. Normal online entries for this second series closed on 18 September. If your papers have already been written, plan for the 2027 First Series instead.

GCE is the everyday name for the WASSCE for Private Candidates. People sit it when they want O'Level results for the first time, or when a weak grade from school is holding back an admission and they need to fix it.

Is WAEC GCE registration 2026 still on?

Only for walk-ins.

You get the PIN at the nearest WAEC office and finish the form before the portal closes, since walk-in is the only route left this series. The first deadline was 31 July. Normal entries later ran on until 18 September.

There's a catch. The second series exam began on 4 September and ends on 28 October, which means some papers are already behind you. Check your subjects on the final timetable. If English or Mathematics is already over, you're better off keeping that money for the First Series than paying for a paper you can no longer sit.

When does the 2027 First Series registration open?

Expect it around December. Last cycle, registration opened in December 2025 and candidates were writing papers from late January. Treat that as the usual pattern rather than a fixed date, and confirm the new dates on registration.waecdirect.org before you pay anybody for a PIN.

What should you sort out before the window opens?

Start with contact details you'll still be using next year: a phone number, which WAEC makes compulsory, and an email address. Next comes your name. Type it exactly as it reads on your birth certificate or NIN, and keep it within 40 characters, spaces included. Pick eight or nine subjects with English Language and Mathematics as the compulsory pair. Then choose an exam town you can reach for every single paper.

Here's a common case. Your school WAEC gave you a credit in English, but Mathematics came back as a D7 and your course needs a credit in both. Before you build your whole subject list around that one paper, ask the university's admissions office whether your course accepts results from two sittings.

Watch your middle name. If your birth certificate carries one that your NIN doesn't, pick one version and use it everywhere, because WAEC prints exactly what you type on the form.

Fingerprints and the webcam photo

WAEC scans your fingerprints at registration so it can confirm you're the person in the exam hall. If you own a fingerprint scanner, you can download WAEC's capture software and do the capture yourself; if you don't, visit a registration centre that has one. Only digital personal scanners are allowed.

The photo is stricter than it looks. It needs a USB webcam of at least 2 megapixels that records at 720p or better, and WAEC recommends the Microsoft LifeCam HD 3000. Plenty of old laptop cameras won't pass that test, so if yours gives you a grainy picture, use a business centre with a newer webcam.

How much is the WAEC GCE form?

For this year's second series, WAEC charged about ₦37,000. WAEC sets the First Series fee when it opens that window, so confirm the amount before you pay. Prices in this table are as at 16 October 2026.

Get your WAEC registration PIN on AidaPay, for yourself or for your child: download the AidaPay app.

Where to get the WAEC registration PIN

Walk-in entries before 29 October need a PIN from a WAEC office, since that's where walk-in PINs are issued.

For an online entry once the next window opens, buy the WASSCE PIN for Private Candidates in the AidaPay app. Its price and cashback sit in the table above. On AidaPay, the PIN and serial show on your receipt and stay in Transactions, so you won't have to dig through old messages to find them on registration day.

Each PIN opens one candidate's form. A parent registering two children buys two PINs. Before you buy, check today's WAEC registration PIN price and make sure the window for your series is open.

How to register for WAEC GCE, step by step

Before Submit, you can save and edit the form up to three times. After that, 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.
2. Open waeconline.org.ng and follow the e-Registration link for private candidates. It 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 registration 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 click Submit.
8. Print your admission notice and photocard. You need it to enter the exam hall.

Treat the PIN and serial like a password. Keep them in one safe place and out of family group chats, where anyone scrolling past could copy them.

Once you submit, the portal gives you a centre and an examination number, and you should keep that number with your receipt until your results come out.

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 the same on a small, cracked screen. Then check that the address bar says registration.waecdirect.org and not a look-alike site.

If your AidaPay purchase says pending, requery it in Transactions. If it still hasn't come through after that, raise a ticket under Settings > Support with the transaction reference, or find help on AidaPay help and support.

Online, a submitted form stays locked. Take your receipt, admission notice and a photocopy of your birth certificate or NIN slip to the nearest WAEC office, and go early.

Miss 29 October and this year's second series is gone. Spend November getting your documents and subjects ready, so that when the First Series window opens you can buy your PIN and register in its first week.

Frequently asked questions

Published 2 October 2026, updated 16 October 2026. Prices and codes change - if you spot one that has moved, tell us and we will fix it.