NECO

The National Examination Council (NECO) is an examination body in Nigeria that conducts the Senior Secondary Certificate Examination and the General Certificate in Education in June/July and November/December respectively.

One of the last acts of the Abdulsalami Abubakar military administration was the promulgation of a decree, in April 1999, that created the National Examinations Council (NECO). That act, however, was only the climax of a process whose beginning predated the administration.

Although calls for the creation of a national examination outfit had been on for over two decades earlier, the birth of NECO was not spared controversy. While some Nigerians saw its arrival as an opportunity for choice of examination body for candidates to patronize, others doubted its capacity to conduct reliable examinations that could command widespread national and international respect and acceptability. Some others welcomed it for its potential, as a Federal Government parastatal, to offer subsidized registration to candidates; yet others queried even its legal status.

NECO was mandated to take over the responsibilities of the National Board of Education Measurement (NBEM). Its maiden examination took place in mid-2000.

Examinations

Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (internal and external)

Nigeria offers six years of basic education, three years of junior secondary education, three years of senior secondary education, and four years of tertiary education. Mathematics and English language are compulsory though Mathematics may not be required for some courses in higher institutions.

Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE)

Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) is the main examination to qualify students for admission into secondary and vocational schools in Ghana and Nigeria. It is written after three years of junior high school education.

National Common Entrance Examination

The National Common Entrance Examination is administered to pupils in their 6th year of basic education for admission into Federal Unity Colleges. Two examinations are held annually.

Missions of NECO

• To ensure that the examinations conducted by NECO are in conformity with the provisions, expectations and yearnings of the National Policy on Education and the National Curriculum.
• To deliver Examinations whose results are trusted worldwide for their credibility.