EXAMINATIONS · FEES

Examination fees

What every series costs, who pays it, and the short list of charges a candidate may lawfully be asked for. A candidate in a public school in Kano State pays nothing to sit any examination, at any level.

The position in one paragraph

Every entry fee below is gazetted. It is the whole amount payable for that series and nothing may be added to it by a school, a centre, an officer or an agent. For a candidate presented by a public school in Kano State the State pays that amount in full, directly to the examining body, against the school's confirmed entry list — ₦56,000 a candidate across the five main series. Nothing passes through the school and nothing is asked of the family.

A candidate in an approved private school pays the same gazetted fee, collected by the proprietor and remitted to the examining body. The proprietor may not mark it up, may not bundle it into a term charge and must show it separately on the school's published fee schedule filed with the Private and Voluntary Institute.

Everything else on this page — late entry, change of subject, re-marking, replacement of a certificate — is a service charge, not an entry fee. Each is paid to the Ministry through the payment portal or an accredited bank, never in cash to a person, and each is refunded in the two cases stated below.

Gazetted entry fees, by series

The published entry fee for each of the nine series written in Kano State, with the level, the examining body and the window in which it is written.

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

Who pays what

The same fee, seen from three sides: what the State settles, what a candidate in a public school pays, and what a candidate in an approved private school pays.

Series	Public school candidate	Private school candidate	Settled with
Common Entrance	Paid in full by the State — ₦1,500	₦1,500, through the school	Ministry of Education, Examinations Unit
BECE	Paid in full by the State — ₦3,500	₦3,500, through the school	Ministry of Education, Examinations Unit
Qualifying Examination	Paid in full by the State — ₦2,000	₦2,000, through the school	Ministry of Education, Examinations Unit
WASSCE	Paid in full by the State — ₦27,500	Council fee, collected by the proprietor	West African Examinations Council
SSCE (NECO)	Paid in full by the State — ₦21,500	Council fee, collected by the proprietor	National Examinations Council
Technical Trade Test	Paid in full by the State — ₦6,500	Not applicable — written in State technical colleges	NABTEB, through the Science and Technical Schools Board
Qur'anic and Islamic Studies Certificate	Settled by KSQISMB — ₦1,000	₦1,000, through the school	Qur'anic and Islamiyyah School Management Board
Adult Literacy Certificate	No charge	No charge	Agency for Mass Education
Placement Test	₦1,000, paid by the applicant	₦1,000, paid by the applicant	The local government education authority

Service charges

The only other amounts the Ministry collects in connection with an examination. Each is paid through the payment portal or an accredited bank, and the payment confirmation is produced when the service is collected.

Service	Charge	When it applies	Where it is done
Late entry surcharge	₦1,000	For an entry made in the 14 days after the entry list closes; no entry at all is accepted after the late window	The school portal, by the head teacher
Change of subject option	₦500	For a change of the religious studies option or an approved subject change before the list closes; free before the list is confirmed	The school portal, by the head teacher
Change of centre	₦500	On approval by the Director of Examinations, for a change of residence or a documented need	The local government education authority
Correction of name or date of birth	₦2,000	After the entry list closes, on a sworn affidavit and the birth certificate or age declaration	The Certification Desk, Audu Bako Secretariat
Re-sit entry, private candidate	₦3,500	A candidate who has left school re-entering a State series; the State pays only for candidates presented by a public school	The local government education authority
Re-marking or result review	₦2,500	Per paper, within 30 days of release; refunded in full if the grade changes	The results enquiry desk
Attestation of result	₦2,000	A letter confirming a result to an institution or an employer where the certificate is not yet printed	The Certification Desk
Replacement of a lost certificate	₦5,000	On a sworn affidavit, a police report and a newspaper announcement; one replacement is issued and it is marked as such	The Certification Desk
Verification of a certificate	₦3,000	Requested by an employer or an institution, not by the holder; State series only	The Certification Desk
Certificate collection	No charge	Always. No school or officer may charge for issuing or releasing a certificate	The candidate's school

Free of charge, and what that covers

For a candidate in a public school in Kano State, sitting an examination costs the family nothing. That is not limited to the entry fee. It covers registration, biometric capture, the photo card, the question papers, the answer booklets, the practical and alternative-to-practical papers, the result-checking token, the statement of result and the certificate itself.

The State meets ₦56,000 a candidate across the five main series, and considerably more for a science secondary school or technical college candidate whose Trade Test entry is also settled. The commitment is a budget line, not a discretion, and it is not conditional on a school charge, a parent-teacher association levy or anything else being settled first.

Entry fee for every State and council series — paid by the State
Registration, biometric capture and the photo card — no charge
Practical, alternative-to-practical and oral papers — included
The result-checking token, issued through the principal — no charge
Statement of result and the certificate — no charge
Special arrangements for a candidate with a disability — no charge
A re-set paper after an emergency at a centre — no charge

Paying a service charge

Four steps, and none of them involves handing money to a person. Any officer who asks for cash is acting outside the law.

Generate the payment reference

The head teacher, the candidate or the applicant generates a reference on the Ministry's payment portal, choosing the service and quoting the candidate's examination number. The reference names the candidate and expires after seven days.

Pay into the designated account

Pay against that reference at any of the accredited banks, at a bank counter or through a bank transfer. Nothing is paid to a school account, an officer's account, an agent or a person.

Keep the payment confirmation

The portal confirms the payment against the reference within minutes and issues a printable acknowledgement carrying the candidate's name and examination number. Keep it until the service has been delivered.

Present the acknowledgement

Take the acknowledgement to the desk that provides the service — the school portal for an entry change, the education authority for a centre change, the Certification Desk for a certificate matter. A service is not delivered against cash and never against a promise to pay.

No cash examination charge, by anyone, for any reason

No school, centre, supervisor, invigilator, education secretary or Ministry officer may collect cash from a candidate or a parent in connection with an examination. Not for registration, not for a portal charge, not for an examination levy, not for a photo card, not for a result token, not for "handling", not for a certificate and not for a place at a centre. Every lawful charge on this page is paid through the payment portal or an accredited bank against a named reference.

Report a demand with the school or centre name, the local government area, the name or title of the person who asked, the amount and the date. Telephone 0800 MOE KANO or +234 803 700 1420, email info@moe.kn.gov.ng, or call at the Directorate of Examinations, Assessment and Certification, Ministry of Education, Audu Bako Secretariat, Kano, Kano State, Nigeria. Money collected unlawfully is refunded to the family, and the officer or head teacher answers for it under the public service rules.

Two refunds, and what is never refunded

The Ministry refunds in exactly two situations, and it refunds in full and without deduction.

A re-marking charge is refunded in full where the grade changes on review
An entry fee is refunded in full where a paper is cancelled by the Ministry and not re-set
A private-candidate entry fee is not refunded where the candidate is absent from the papers
A late entry surcharge is not refunded once the late entry has been accepted
A change of centre or subject charge is not refunded once the change is made
A replacement certificate charge is not refunded if the original is later found
A refund is paid to the account that made the payment, within 21 working days
No refund is ever paid in cash, and none is paid to a school on a candidate's behalf

Questions about examination fees

My child is in a public school and the school is asking for examination money. Is that right?

No. The State pays every entry fee for a candidate presented by a public school, and nothing may be collected from a family under any name. Report it with the school name, the class, the amount and the date to the local government education authority for the area, or on 0800 MOE KANO. The money is refunded.

What does a candidate in an approved private school pay?

The gazetted fee for the series and nothing more — ₦3,500 for the BECE, ₦1,500 for the Common Entrance, ₦2,000 for the Qualifying Examination, and the council's own fee for WASSCE and SSCE. The proprietor must show the amount separately on the school's filed fee schedule and may not mark it up.

Is there a charge for a certificate?

No. Certificates are issued free, collected in person at the school against the photo card and a signature. No school may hold a certificate back over an unpaid school charge — that is a separate matter between the school and the family and it does not touch the certificate.

How much is a replacement for a lost certificate?

₦5,000 for a State series, on production of a sworn affidavit, a police report and a newspaper announcement of the loss. One replacement is issued and it is marked as a replacement. A lost WASSCE or NECO certificate is replaced by the council itself on the council's own terms.

Can a re-marking charge be waived?

It is not waived, but it is refunded in full where the review changes the grade. A candidate who cannot meet it should approach the local government education authority, which may present the case to the Directorate where the school's own record suggests a genuine marking question.

What happens if a school misses the entry deadline?

A late entry is accepted for 14 days after the list closes on payment of the ₦1,000 surcharge for each candidate, which the school pays and may not pass to a family. After the late window no entry is accepted at all and the candidates wait for the next series. This is the one deadline in the examination year with no discretion behind it.

Asked for money you do not believe is lawful?

Every amount the Ministry may lawfully collect is on this page. Anything else is not a charge — it is a matter for the hotline.

Report it to the Ministry Examination timetable