EXAMINATIONS
Examinations in Kano State
Nine examination series are written in Kano State each session. The Ministry administers four of them itself and coordinates the rest on behalf of a national examining body or one of its own parastatal boards. Together they carry more than 1,059,000 entries a year.
What the Ministry does at examination time
The Examinations Unit of the Ministry sits in the Audu Bako Secretariat and is answerable to the Permanent Secretary through the Director of Examinations, Assessment and Certification. It sets and marks the State's own papers, accredits every centre those papers are written in, appoints and trains supervisors and invigilators, prints and moves question papers under police escort, releases results and issues certificates.
For the national series the Unit is not the examiner. The West African Examinations Council, the National Examinations Council and the National Business and Technical Examinations Board set and mark their own papers to their own standards. What the State does for those series is register the candidates, present the centres for accreditation, pay the entry fee for candidates in public schools, provide the supervision the examining body requires, and take custody of the certificates when they arrive.
A parent does not need to know which arrangement applies before approaching the Ministry. Any question about any series written in Kano State can be raised at the Examinations Unit, at the zonal education office or at the local government education authority for the area, and it will be routed to whoever holds the answer.
The examination season in figures
1,059,000
Entries a session
Across all nine series
3,428
Centre deployments
Many schools host more than one series
24
Subjects examined
From the approved State curriculum
703,400
Candidates on State papers
Common Entrance, BECE, Qualifying and Placement
Administered by the State, coordinated for others
Four series belong to the State outright. The Common Entrance Examination, the Basic Education Certificate Examination, the Qualifying Examination and the Placement Test are set, marked, graded and certified by the Ministry, and the standard applied in them is a Kano standard set by the State Examinations Board.
Five are coordinated on behalf of another body. WASSCE belongs to WAEC, SSCE to NECO, the Trade Test to NABTEB through the Science and Technical Schools Board, the Qur'anic and Islamic Studies Certificate to the Qur'anic and Islamiyyah School Management Board, and the Adult Literacy Certificate to the Agency for Mass Education.
- BECE — set and marked by the Ministry at the end of JSS 3
- Common Entrance — set and marked by the Ministry at the end of Primary 6
- Qualifying Examination — the Ministry's SS 1 placement paper
- Placement Test — the Ministry's paper for a pupil transferring in
- WASSCE and SSCE — coordinated for WAEC and NECO in 268 centres
- Trade Test, QISC and the Adult Literacy Certificate — coordinated for STSB, KSQISMB and the Agency for Mass Education
The nine series
What each series is for, who examines it and where to read the detail.
Basic Education Certificate Examination
BECE · JSS 3 · Kano State Ministry of Education
The terminal examination of basic education. Passing it, together with the Qualifying Examination, is how a pupil moves from JSS 3 into SS 1.
Learn moreSenior School Certificate Examination (NECO)
SSCE · SS 3 · National Examinations Council
The National Examinations Council series, written alongside WASSCE. The State pays the entry fee in full for every candidate in a public senior secondary school.
Learn moreWest African Senior School Certificate Examination
WASSCE · SS 3 · West African Examinations Council
The WAEC series. Five credits including English Language and Mathematics remain the entry standard for a Nigerian university.
Learn moreCommon Entrance Examination
CE · Primary 6 · Kano State Ministry of Education
Sat at the end of Primary 6. It places pupils into junior secondary schools and into the selective science and technical intake.
Learn moreQualifying Examination
QE · JSS 3 · Kano State Ministry of Education
The placement examination that assigns a JSS 3 leaver to a senior secondary school, a science secondary school or a technical college.
Learn moreQur'anic and Islamic Studies Certificate
QISC · Tsangaya / Islamiyya · Kano State Qur'anic and Islamiyyah School Management Board
Certification of memorisation, recitation, Tajweed, Fiqh, Hadith and Arabic for learners in the State's Qur'anic and Islamiyyah schools.
Learn moreTechnical Trade Test
TTT · Trade 3 · Science and Technical Schools Board
Grade I, II and III trade tests in motor mechanics, electrical installation, welding, block-laying, plumbing, carpentry and ICT.
Learn moreAdult Literacy Certificate
ALC · Literacy Level 3 · Kano State Agency for Mass Education
Certification of functional literacy and numeracy in Hausa and English for adults completing the three literacy levels. There is no fee.
Learn morePlacement Test
PT · Any · Kano State Ministry of Education
Sat by a pupil transferring into a Kano school from another state or country, or returning to school after a period out, to fix the right class.
Learn moreEvery series, with its entry fee and window
The gazetted entry fee for each series and the period in the session when it is written. A candidate in a public school in Kano State pays nothing towards any of these fees; the State settles them in full against the school's entry list.
| Code | Examination | Level | Examining body | Entry fee | Window |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BECE | Basic Education Certificate Examination | JSS 3 | Kano State Ministry of Education | ₦3,500 | Second week of June |
| SSCE | Senior School Certificate Examination (NECO) | SS 3 | National Examinations Council | ₦21,500 | June to July |
| WASSCE | West African Senior School Certificate Examination | SS 3 | West African Examinations Council | ₦27,500 | April to June |
| CE | Common Entrance Examination | Primary 6 | Kano State Ministry of Education | ₦1,500 | Third week of March |
| QE | Qualifying Examination | JSS 3 | Kano State Ministry of Education | ₦2,000 | First week of July |
| QISC | Qur'anic and Islamic Studies Certificate | Tsangaya / Islamiyya | Kano State Qur'anic and Islamiyyah School Management Board | ₦1,000 | Second week of May |
| TTT | Technical Trade Test | Trade 3 | Science and Technical Schools Board | ₦6,500 | May to June |
| ALC | Adult Literacy Certificate | Literacy Level 3 | Kano State Agency for Mass Education | No charge | October |
| PT | Placement Test | Any | Kano State Ministry of Education | ₦1,000 | On demand, within 10 working days |
The examination cycle
Every series, State or national, runs through the same seven stages. The dates differ; the sequence does not.
Entry
The head teacher or principal enters the candidates from the class register on the school portal. Entry is a school act, not a parent's: no candidate in a public school registers as an individual. Names, dates of birth and subject choices are taken from the admission register and must match it exactly.
Registration and biometric capture
Each entered candidate is photographed and fingerprinted at the school, and is issued an examination number and a photo card. The card is the candidate's identity for the whole series and is surrendered only at certificate collection.
Centre accreditation
Quality Assurance inspects every proposed centre before it may sit a paper — halls, seating spacing, lighting, sanitation, a strongroom for scripts and a resident supervisor. A school that fails is not accredited, and its candidates are attached to the nearest accredited centre.
Conduct and invigilation
Question papers move from the State strongroom to the centre under escort on the morning of the paper. A supervisor from outside the host school opens the packet in front of the candidates, and one invigilator is deployed for every 25 candidates in the hall.
Marking
Scripts are collected the same day, sealed, and marked at a coordinated marking centre by examiners drawn from the State's own teachers and moderated by chief examiners. Marking is blind: an examiner sees an examination number and never a name or a school.
Release of results
Results are released to schools and to candidates through the results portal, normally within eight weeks of the last paper for a State series and on the examining body's own schedule for a national one. A withheld result is shown as withheld, with the reason and the enquiry route.
Collection of the certificate
Certificates are printed centrally, distributed to the school through the education authority, and collected by the candidate in person on production of the photo card. There is no charge for a certificate, and no school may hold one back over an unpaid school charge.
Plan around the examination season
The three pages a head teacher, a candidate or a parent needs before the season opens.
Timetable
2025/2026 session
Paper-by-paper dates, term structure and the rules that apply to a candidate on the day.
Learn moreCentres
All 44 local government areas
How many centres each area holds, how a centre is accredited and how it can lose accreditation.
Learn moreFees
Gazetted schedule
What every series costs, what the State pays and the few charges a candidate may lawfully be asked for.
Learn moreExaminations Unit
Audu Bako Secretariat
Speak to the Unit about an entry, a withheld result, a centre or a certificate.
Learn moreTwo rules the Ministry enforces without exception
No centre, school or officer may collect more than the gazetted entry fee for a series, and none may collect anything at all from a candidate in a public school. Any demand above the published schedule is unlawful. Report it to the Examinations Unit on 0800 MOE KANO or by email to info@moe.kn.gov.ng, with the school name and the amount demanded.
Examination malpractice is a criminal offence under the Examination Malpractices Act, Cap. E15, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria. A candidate found with unauthorised material, impersonating another candidate or being impersonated has the whole series cancelled and is barred for two sessions. A supervisor, invigilator or head teacher who assists is dismissed and prosecuted, and the centre loses accreditation.
Where to take an examination question
Take the matter to the lowest office that can settle it, and carry the candidate's examination number and the name and code of the school.
- An entry not showing on the portal — the head teacher, then the local government education authority
- A wrong name, date of birth or subject on the entry — the head teacher, before the entry deadline
- A centre with no space, light or water — the zonal education office
- A withheld or seized result — the Examinations Unit, Directorate of Examinations, Assessment and Certification
- A result you believe is wrong — the results enquiry desk, within 30 days of release
- A certificate not collected or lost — the Certification Desk at the Audu Bako Secretariat
- Malpractice at a centre — the hotline 0800 MOE KANO, in confidence
- A demand for money at a public school — the education authority for that area, or info@moe.kn.gov.ng
Registering candidates this session?
Entries close on the date published in the calendar. A school that misses the deadline pays the late entry surcharge, and a school that misses the late window cannot present its candidates at all.