Akota-Chika Serena and Tolulope Adekimi, students of Caleb British International School, say they found the International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) examinations easier than the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).
Serena won the ‘Top in the World’ Outstanding Cambridge Learners Award for English as a second language, while Adekimi received the same award in Mathematics after recording the highest marks globally in the 2025 Cambridge examinations.
Speaking when they featured on Channels Television’s ‘Morning Brief’, Serena said she had completed the WASSCE and was currently sitting for the National Examinations Council (NECO) test.
She said although both examinations differ in structure, she found the IGCSE questions easier to understand and answer.
“Currently, I’m done with WAEC, I’m currently writing NECO, so I’ve seen both, I’ve seen IGCSE and I’ve seen WAEC, and yes, they are very, very much different. I don’t want to say it is easier, but yes, IGCSE is a little bit easier and really to understand than the WAEC,” Serena said.
“For WAEC, we have test of orals, writing, the essay part. But for IGCSE, the answers are already in the question. Like, you just, you don’t need to read, you don’t need to know things. IGCSE doesn’t really want you to know what beforehand. They want you to understand what the question is telling you. So they can ask you on a topic you already know, but your answer should be what is already in the question, not what you know. But for WAEC, you need to read, you need to understand.”
Adekimi also said he found IGCSE Mathematics less demanding than its WASSCE equivalent.
He said the examination questions are often presented in practical scenarios, making it easier to identify what is being asked, especially after practising with past questions.
“So for mathematics, I also say that IGCSE mathematics is somewhat easier for me. So from IGCSE, it’s not like they just give you a question like, solve this, find x. Usually, there’s like a little story attached. Maybe, okay, the challenge first, find the question, the actual question, like, what exactly am I solving, what’s the equation here,” he said.
“And that’s easy for you. Yes, once you solve a lot of past questions and you notice the patterns that they use in certain questions, it becomes easier to notice trends and patterns.”
Serena attributed her success to the support she received from her school and parents.
She said her parents moved her into the school’s boarding facility ahead of the examinations to minimise distractions and allow her to concentrate on her studies.
