The English Language Paper III of the Senior Secondary Certificate Examination Internal will have fewer objective questions, according to a statement released by the National Examinations Council (NECO). Starting with the SSCE Internal exams in 2026, there will be 80 questions instead of 100.
The new paper structure has six divisions, according to an official notification signed by Sunday K. Bolaji, the State Coordinator for Osun State, and made available on Wednesday. The notification was dated September 1, 2025.
Grammatical Structures (30 questions), Cloze Text (10 questions), Antonyms (10 questions), Register Appropriateness (10 questions), and Proper Interpretation of Phrasal Verbs, Idioms, and Foreign Words (10 questions).
Additionally, the time allotted for Paper III will be changed to fifty minutes. The purpose of this modification is to improve the testing experience for students and expedite the assessment procedure.
As previously reported, the NECO has affirmed that, beginning with the November/December 2025 SSCE external, it would completely switch from the conventional paper-and-pencil examination process to a computer-based testing system.
This change is in line with the Federal Government’s July 2025 mandate to establish both public and commercial CBT facilities across the country by 2026 for school-based SSCEs.
In order to guarantee exam integrity and seamless operation, NECO has extended an invitation to interested CBT center operators throughout Nigeria to apply for certification, subject to stringent technological, infrastructure, and security standards.
This action is to increase access to digital education across the country, modernize Nigeria’s examination system, lower malpractice, and boost operational effectiveness.
