The following recommendations were made based

The gap

Evidence profile

Sourced from the recommendations of the source papers, classified as general, spanning 3 journals.

Supporting evidence — 3 representative gaps

• A Comparative Analysis of Students’ Academic Performance in WAEC and NECO in Mathematics and English Language in Jos South, Nigeria (2026) · Journal of Education and Learning Reviews · doi

  In line with the findings of this study, to enhance comparability and fairness in the results of the WAEC and NECO examinations, the following recommendations are offered. Examination bodies (WAEC and NECO) ought to further intensify the cooperation in developing the tests, standardisation, and marking schemes to ensure the comparability of the results in the two examinations by forming a joint WAEC- NECO marking and moderation committee, which convenes twice a year to harmonise marking requirements and scoring rubrics. The policymakers are encouraged to facilitate the creation of joint moderation and quality assurance systems to enhance uniformity in the level of difficulty, the content to be covered, and the grading criteria among the examination bodies. The secondary schools are to implement uniform instructional delivery and examination preparation methods in order to reduce the small differences in performance of students through the WAEC and NECO. Students should be sensitised through guidance and counselling units about the best preparation strategies that can be used in both the WAEC and NECO examinations, and these should be geared towards ensuring that the performance outcomes are stable. This can be achieved by creating a collective WAEC-NECO student preparation guide to harmonise examination preparation strategies. Future studies must broaden the study to other fundamental topics and across wider geographic regions, and use longitudinal designs or more sophisticated methods of analysis to further explore comparability trends over time. Citation: Ameh, O.O., & Wutenwa, J.T. (2026). A Comparative Analysis of Students’ Academic Performance in WAEC and NECO in Mathematics and English Language in Jos South, Nigeria.

  generalrecommendationsevidence 5/5
  Keywords: waec neco examination preparation comparability examinations marking performance students enhance bodies further joint moderation harmonise
• Comparison of Item Parameters of WAEC, NECO and NABTEB Mathematics Multiple Choice Questions Obtained Using IRT in Anambra State (2026) · International Journal of Education Management and Technology · doi

  Based on the findings of the study, the following recommendations are made: (i) Certificates issued by WAEC, NABTEB and NECO could be used freely for same purposes without any discrimination since the items of the examinations are of comparable standard. (ii) NABTEB and NECO should improve their distracter options so that students will not be able to guess their test items correctly. (iii) WAEC items parameters are of high quality as revealed in the study. Based on this the examination body should continue to maintain her high standard known for over the years. (iv) NABTEB items were too difficult as revealed in the study. Based on this, the examination sbody should revisit most of their test items to reduce level of difficulty. (v) Government should establish a joint examination evaluation team to ensure that examination items constructed by different examination bodies are of the same standard. REFERENCES Aborisade, O. J., & Fajobi, O. O. (2020). Comparative analysis of psychometric properties of mathematics items constructed by WAEC and NECO in Nigeria using item response theory approach. Educational Research and Reviews, 15(1), 1–7. https://doi.org/10.5897/ERR2019.3850 Alfred, A. O. (2013). Scoring tests with dichotomous and polychromous items. University of Georgia. Asuquo, U. B., Joseph, E., & Bassey, H. E. (2022). Measurement models and the psychometric properties of 2016 and 2017 NECO mathematics instrument in Calabar Education Zone of Cross River State. Journal of Advances in Education and Philosophy, 6(6), 311–319. https://doi.org/10.36348/jaep.2022.v06i06.001 Awopeju, O. A., & Afolabi, E. R. I. (2016). Comparative analysis of classical test theory and item response theory-based item parameter estimates of senior school certificate mathematics 263–284. https://doi.org/10.19044/esj.2016.v12n28p263 examination. European Scientific 12(28), Journal, Volume 4, Issue 2, 2026

  generalrecommendationsevidence 5/5
  Keywords: items examination based neco waec nabteb standard test mathematics item theory https high revealed constructed
• CLASSICAL TEST THEORY ANALYSIS OF ITEM DIFFICULTY AND DISCRIMINATION IN THE 2019 TARABA STATE SENIOR SECONDARY MATHEMATICS MOCK EXAMINATION (2026) · International Journal of Library Science and Educational Research · doi

  The following recommendations were made based on the findings; 1. Systematic application of Test Blueprints: The Education Resource Centre (ERC) must ensure a standardization table of specifications (Test Blueprints) is strictly applied during 129 IJLSER: E-ISSN 3027-1827 P-ISSN 3026-880X International Journal of Library Science & Education Research Published by Cambridge Research and Publications Vol. 12 No. 8 June, 2026. the construction of future Mock Examinations. This ensures that items are distributed proportionately across both subject content and cognitive domains to maintain curriculum validity. 2. Adherence to psychometric writing guidelines: to eliminate faultiness observed in item construction which resulted in poor or negative discrimination indices, the ERC should enforce strict compliance with standard multiple-choice item guidelines among the developers 3. The ERC should establish and maintain a functional, secure item bank. Measurement item that met acceptable psychometric thresholds for both difficulty and discrimination should be archived for future administration use 4. Test items identified with poor discrimination power and difficulty indices outside recommended range must not be reused in their current state. They should be either be completely discarded or systematically reviewed and rewritten by subject-matter experts before future use. It is recommended that, Classical test theory of item analysis should be maintained in test development and evaluation

  generalrecommendationsevidence 5/5
  Keywords: test item future discrimination blueprints education must issn construction items subject maintain psychometric guidelines poor

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