How to correct a wrong date of birth on your WAEC certificate
The West African Examination Council (WAEC), processes over 7 million candidates’ WAEC certificates every year. This means errors can’t be completely ruled out at any point of registration from candidates and/or schools. Hence the reason why the examination body made it possible for students/candidates who entered wrong dates of birth during registration to change it without any problem. In this article, you will be learning how to correct a wrong date of birth on your WAEC certificate.
Rectifying or correcting a wrong “Date of Birth” on WAEC certificate is a very sensitive alteration that must be done at the WAEC state office, preferably the Head office in Lagos.
This post would be addressing issues relating to the correction of names or dates of birth on your WAEC certificates. In simple terms, we would give you a detailed explanation on the step-by-step approach of how to change your name or correct a wrong date of birth on your WAEC certificate, should you find yourself in such situations.
The requirements to correct a wrong date of birth on your WAEC Certificate.
In order to correct/rectify your date of birth or name on your WAEC certificate, there are specific documents that need to be carried along to the WAEC state office. Below are the important things you need to change your date of birth in WAEC result:
- Birth Certificate
Your original birth certificate must be sighted by a WAEC Staff when submitting your request. The relevance of your Birth certificate in correcting your WAEC date of birth can’t be underestimated, this is because the WAEC certificate shows your real name, date of birth, place of birth, and origin. Hence it is considered as a crucial document needed in rectifying your change of birth, correction of name, marital status, place of origin e.t.c. It is very important because you cannot do without it. In fact, it is usually the first document they will demand from you.
- Administrative/Processing Fee of N10, 000:
In as much as you are applying for a change of name or date of birth, you will be expected to pay an administrative fee of N10, 000 only. Don’t worry, even if you want to do a change of name and date of birth, you only need to pay once. This fee would be paid in any bank, preferably First Bank of Nigeria, Guarantee Trust Bank, Access bank, zenith bank, or any other bank would be okay. The essence of the fee is for all the logistics required for processing the changes required on your certificate as applied as well as any administrative fee that may be incurred in the process.
- A Letter of Application:
When going to the WAEC state office, you have to write a formal letter to WAEC, requesting a change of name or date of birth (as the case may be). Remember, it must be a formal letter directed to the WAEC State Office, else your application will be rejected.
- An Affidavit:
An affidavit is a sworn declaration/statement/testimony written by an individual and duly signed by the federal high court, it implies that whatever you claim as the reason for the change of your Date of Birth (DOB) or name or whatever information you provided is valid and you can be held liable to the judicial penalty if there is any contradicting report from what is contained in the affidavit. The affidavit is a legal document obtainable at any state high court and is used alongside other documents when applying for a change or correction of information on your WAEC certificate.
- Photocopies of Original Registration Forms:
This is simply the WAEC registration form you made photocopies of while registering for your WAEC exam. When correcting any data on your WAEC certificate, these photocopies are needed, because they carry the relevant details filled during your initial registration. The photocopy of this document would be demanded as a processing document for change of name, date of birth, or any other information on your WAEC certificate.
- Passport Photographs (6 copies):
While going to the WAEC state office, a red background photograph should also be added to your documents, this would be needed for changing your data on WAEC certificate. Ideally, WAEC would require you to come along with the passport photographs that were originally used during your WAEC registration exercise, However, another photograph would suffice in the absence of the photo initially used during your online WAEC registration
- Original WAEC certificate to be corrected:
Lastly, you need to submit the certificate you want them to correct. If possible, get your original WAEC certificate.
Steps required for you to correct your Date of Birth on the WAEC certificate:
- Write a formal letter to WAEC, requesting a change of date of birth. Remember, it must be a formal letter, or else, your application will be rejected.
- Proceed to the biggest WAEC state office near you.
- Inform any of the staff that you want to correct an error in your WAEC certificate.
- Submit your original birth certificate, affidavit, WAEC certificate, Letter of Application, passport photograph, and pay a sum of N10, 000 to them.
- After the submission has been made, your application will pass through the WAEC due process after which approval would be granted for change of date of birth, change of name or as the case may be.
- You will be asked to come back later and get the corrected result.
Correction process for school candidates.
The process of changing your name/date of birth is very different from that of private candidates. Though it seems easier, it tends to cost more money. The amount to be paid could vary, depending on the existing policy of a school. In order to correct your date of birth, you are required to follow the steps below:
- Candidates are required to submit their documents to their school principal who will make the request on their behalf.
- proceed to the school where the WAEC exam was written
- Inform the school principal that an error was made in your WAEC result and that you wish to rectify the problem.
- Provide all the requirements mentioned at the beginning of this article.
- The school principal might ask you to pay some money. Pay the required sum and that is all.
What are the possible consequences of not correcting your Date of Birth?
One may ask, “is it a must I correct my wrong date of birth?”, well, it’s important to state that having a wrong or incorrect date of birth in any of your certificates is capable of rendering that certificate useless or invalid. For instance, it is impossible to gain admission into any local or foreign institution that requires WAEC certificate as a criterion for admission, if your date of birth in both your certificate of birth and your WAEC certificate does not tally.
Not only is it pertinent that the date of birth in your certificate must be correct. It is also very crucial that they follow the same sequence. So you see, the chances of making mistake is even very high if you are not careful enough.
