The West African Examination Council (WAEC) has cautioned candidates, who are writing this year’s Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) from Monday to be wary of operators of rogue websites who peddle fake examination papers as authentic ones.

“Candidates are also cautioned against engaging in any examination malpractice of any form, especially collusion, which is prevalent at the BECE," it said. In all, 509,824 candidates from 16,060 schools will write the examination in 1,772 centres throughout the country.

In a statement signed by Mrs Agnes Teye- Cudjoe, Deputy Director, Public Affairs, for the Head of the National Office of WAEC, the Council said collusion could be detected by the Item Differentia Profile (IDP) in their objective tests, or in their script during marking.

It, therefore, urged all stakeholders, especially supervisors and invigilators, to safeguard the integrity of the examination.

WAEC assured the public that all the necessary measures had been put in place to ensure that the examinations were conducted successfully.

“The Council wishes all candidates success in their papers and reminds them they can pass their examination without cheating.”

The candidature, which is made up of 263,295 males and 246,529 females, is an 8.9 per cent increase over 2017 figure of 468,060. The examination will end on June 8, 2018.