Can I use combinations of WAEC and NECO or GCE results?

Ultimate guide on how to combine results for University admission

Every student who could not make their result in one sitting, are very curious to know if they could gain admission into Nigeria universities with two sittings. Meaning with two O level results and not just that, students are curious to know the right O level combinations. Such as;

WAEC and WAEC combinations
WAEC and NECO Combinations
WAEC and GCE Combinations
NECO and NECO Combinations
NECO and GCE Combinations

If you’re one of such students, then be at peace because you’re not the only one searching for answers. There are over 7 million Nigerian students asking and searching the same thing you’re here to get answers.

Reasons for using a combination of O level results:

Of course, no student with one sitting would bother about the best combinations of O level results and how to combine them.

    • A student may choose to use combinations of results when he or she failed to pass the 5 – 6 core subjects in one sitting.
    • A student may choose to use a combination of O level results if the required subject combinations are missing in one sitting.

This second point noted above is the major reason why many students opt-in for two combinations of o level results. So if you have a friend who’s yet to write WAEC or NECO, please advise them to get the correct subject combinations for the course they wish to study.

So what do I mean by one sitting?

One sitting means you have the credits in subjects that qualify you for a University degree course. It doesn’t necessarily mean you must pass all 9 registered subjects. No! If you pass all 5 -6 required subjects out of the 9 registered subjects, then it means you have your papers in one sitting.

You may be wondering why 6 subjects instead of 5. Well, read carefully and take it to heart. Though 99.9% of Universities in Nigeria accept two sittings with a clause, some of them do have a condition attached to it. For example, you must have 6 credits if you’re using two O level results ( two sittings) to gain admission into The University of Ibadan and 5 credit if you’re using one sitting.

Does Universities accept NECO results?

This has been a debate for a long time based on the fact WAEC seems to be more popular and extend beyond Nigeria to other African countries. For the record, NECO is the first Federal organization to offer subsidized registration to academic candidates in Nigeria.

NECO was initially designed to take exclusive charge of the conduct of SSCE for school-based candidates while WAEC was to take charge of the same examination for private candidates. In addition to SSCE, NECO is also in charge of BECE and NCEE

  • National Common Entrance Examination (NCEE)
  • Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE)

Can NECO result get admission?
Yes, you can use NECO results to get admission into any Nigerian University. This means, if you’re not using WAEC or GCE results to gain admission, then, you must use NECO result because they are the only acceptable O level certificate

Take note:

  • WAEC SSCE (Internal candidate)
  • WAEC GCE (External candidate)
  • NECO SSCE (Internal candidate)
  • NECO GCE (Internal candidate)

Any of these results can be used to gain admission into any Nigerian University. Now, let’s consider how to combine results for admission.

How to combine O level Results for admission.

You just don’t combine any O level results and hope to gain admission. It doesn’t work that way especially for those using awaiting results. In fact, there are some Universities where you can only use one O level Result to gain admission. I will show you those universities later on.

Like I mentioned earlier, combinations of O level results means you are using two results to gain admission. You can combine the following results:

  • WAEC SSCE and NECO SSCE ( recommended and common combinations)
  • WAEC SSCE and WAEC GCE (recommended and common combinations)
  • WAEC GCE and NECO SSCE (very common)

If you observe closely, you will observe that SSCE result is part of the combination. And remember. SSCE is meant for an internal candidate.

Like I mentioned earlier, about universities that accept only one sitting. It’s very difficult to get an accurate list of all these schools. But I was able to draw out 5 Universities based on a peculiar course. Medicine and surgery is a special course, and as such the following listed universities don’t accept two sittings.
1. University of Benin, Uniben
2. University of Lagos, UNILAG
3. University of Ibadan, UI
4. University of Ilorin, UNILORIN
5. Nnamdi Azikiwe University, UNIZIK.

The University of Lagos, UNILAG and University of Ado Ekiti are the only known universities to accept only one sitting for any course. If there are others please do leave a comment. I will verify and add up to the list.

WAEC and NECO which one is better?

If you are using a combination of WAEC and NECO to gain admission, then you’re on the right path because the combination is very correct. If you pondering whether to write WAEC or NECO, my answer is… You can write any of them, they are accepted here in Nigeria and also accepted by international universities that offer admission to Nigerian students.

Lastly, this is a question that I must answer before I close up the guide. I’m using two sittings but the other result is awaiting. Can I go ahead?

You should be careful using awaiting results because I personally, don’t usher the idea. Most often, some Universities don’t accept WAEC GCE because the result comes out late and by then most schools would have completed their screening and registration processes and some would have even resumed the session.

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