Awada Senior Secondary School in Bo has been identified as the best-performing school in Sierra Leone’s 2026 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), according to the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education (MBSSE).
The ministry said the school topped its initial assessment of school performance after all 30 candidates entered for the examination sat their papers.
Of those candidates, 29 obtained at least five credits, including English Language and Mathematics, representing 96.7 per cent of the school’s candidates, according to the ministry’s announcement.
The results meant that 29 candidates met the requirements for direct entry into an undergraduate degree programme in Sierra Leone. The school recorded an average grade unit of 3.6.
The ministry noted that its initial school performance analysis excluded schools with candidate entries of fewer than 10 per cent and those with an absentee rate above five per cent.
It also congratulated 119 schools whose released results showed that at least 90 per cent of their candidates obtained a minimum of five credits, including a credit in English Language and/or Mathematics.
The ministry said the 2026 WASSCE recorded improvements in several performance indicators, including the overall subject paper pass rate, which increased to 81.4 per cent from 74 per cent in 2025.
A total of 141,810 candidates sat at least one subject, while 91,122 candidates obtained at least five credits in a single sitting.
The ministry commended schools and teachers for preparing candidates and reiterated its commitment to improving learning outcomes and protecting the integrity of public examinations.
The school rankings were based on the ministry’s stated criteria for its initial analysis, and the announcement did not provide a complete ranked list of all performing schools.