RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CHEMISTRY STUDENTS’ PERFORMANCE IN QUALIFYING EXAMINATION AND WASSCE IN SOME SELECTED SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN GWALE L.G.A, KANO STATE

ABSTRACT This study examines the relationship between students’ performance in Chemistry in the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) and the Qualifying Examination in some selected secondary schools in Gwale Local Government Area, Kano State, Nigeria. The study seeks to determine whether the Qualifying Examination serves as an accurate predictor of students' readiness and success in WASSCE. A descriptive and correlational research design was adopted, with data collected from five randomly selected secondary schools over a five-year period (2018–2023). Descriptive statistics such as mean, median and standard deviation were used to analyze students’ performance trends, while Pearson correlation analysis was employed to assess the strength and direction of the relationship between the two examination outcomes. The findings indicate that only one of the schools showed a positive correlation, while others exhibited negative correlations, suggesting that performance in the Qualifying Examination does not consistently predict WASSCE outcomes. The study concludes that factors such as syllabus coverage, exam difficulty, and teaching methodologies may contribute to discrepancies in performance. It recommends aligning the structure of Qualifying Examinations more closely with WASSCE standards, enhancing teaching methods, and improving student preparation strategies to bridge the performance gap.