A total of 138,152 candidates registered for the 2025 Junior Secondary External Examination. These included 59,656 (43.18%) male and 78,496 (56.82%) females.
Of the 138,152 registered candidates, a total of 130,615, representing 94.54 percent, sat the examination. Of the 130,615 who sat the examination, 56,259, representing 43.03 percent were male, while 74,356, representing 56.97 percent, were female. Of the 130,615 candidates who sat the examination, a total of 36,049 candidates, representing 27.60 percent, sat for six or more subjects.
Meanwhile, 7,537 candidates, representing 5.46 percent, were absent from the 2025 Junior Secondary External Examination. These were 3,397 males and 4,140 females. The 2025 absenteeism rate reduced by 0.16 percentage points from 5.62 percent in 2024.
In terms of performance, out of the 130,615 candidates that sat the examination, 102,271, representing 78.29 percent, passed in at least one subject, while 28,344, representing 21.70 percent, did not pass any subject they had entered for, and therefore failed the examination. This is taking into consideration that candidates for this examination can sit for a minimum of one subject.
Furthermore, out of the 36,049 candidates that sat for six or more subjects, 8,552 (23.72%) obtained Certificates, 19,718 (54.70%) obtained Statements after passing in at least one but fewer than six subjects required to make a certificate, while 7,779 (21.58%) failed the examination.
Performance analysis by subject revealed that the highest mean score was recorded in Art and Design (72.16%), while the lowest was recorded in Religious Education (21.15%), a trend which is similar to the 2024 Junior Secondary External Examination results;
and As was the case in 2024, more female candidates had registered and sat the 2025 Junior Secondary External Examination than their male counterparts.