WAEC MATHEMATICS SYLLABUS

S TOPICS OBJECTIVES
N

PART I: NUMBER AND NUMERATION

1 NUMBER BASES (i) conversion of numbers from one base to

another

(ii) Basic operations on number bases

2 MODULAR ARITHMETIC (i) Concept of Modulo Arithmetic.

(ii) Addition, subtraction, and multiplication

operations in modulo arithmetic.

(iii) Application to daily life

3 FRACTIONS, DECIMALS (i) Basic operations on fractions and decimals.

AND APPROXIMATIONS
(ii) Approximations and significant figures.

4 INDICES (i) Laws of indices

(ii) Numbers in standard form ( scientific notation)

5 LOGARITHMS (i) Relationship between indices and logarithms

e.g. y = 10k implies log10y = k.

(ii) Basic rules of logarithms e.g. log10(pq) =

log10p + log10q log10(p/q) = log10p – log10q
log10p n = nlog10p.

(iii) Use of tables of logarithms and anti

logarithms.

6 SEQUENCES AND SERIES (i) Patterns of sequences.

(ii) Arithmetic progression (A.P.) Geometric

Progression (G.P.)

7 SETS (i) Idea of sets, universal sets, finite and infinite

sets, subsets, empty sets, and disjoint sets. Idea
of and notation for union, intersection and
complement of sets.

(ii) Solution of practical problems involving

classification using Venn diagrams.
8 LOGICAL REASONING Simple statements. True and false statements.
Negation of statements, implications.

9 POSITIVE & NEGATIVE The four basic operations on rational numbers.

INTEGERS, RATIONAL
NUMBERS

10 SURDS(RADICALS) Simplification and rationalization of simple surds.

11 MATRICES & (i) Identification of order, notation, and types of

DETERMINANTS matrices.

(ii) Addition, subtraction, scalar multiplication, and

multiplication of matrices.

(iii) Determinant of a matrix

12 RATIO, PROPORTIONS & Ratio between two similar quantities. Proportion

RATES between two or more similar quantities.

Financial partnerships, rates of work, costs,

taxes, foreign exchange, density (e.g.
population), mass, distance, time, and speed.

13 PERCENTAGES Simple interest, commission, discount,

depreciation, profit and loss, compound interest,
hire purchase, and percentage error.

14 FINANCIAL ARITHMETIC (i) Depreciation/ Amortization

(ii) Annuities

(iii) Capital Market Instruments

15 VARIATION Direct, inverse, partial, and joint variations.

PART II: ALGEBRAIC PROCESSES

16 ALGEBRAIC (i) Formulating algebraic expressions from given

EXPRESSIONS situations

( ii ) Evaluation of algebraic expressions

17 SIMPLE OPERATIONS ON ( i ) Expansion

ALGEBRAIC
EXPRESSIONS (ii ) Factorization

(iii) Binary Operations

18 SOLUTIONS OF LINEAR (i) Linear equations in one variable
EQUATION
(ii) Simultaneous linear equations in two
variables.

19 CHANGE OF A SUBJECT (i) Change of subject of a formula/relation

OF FORMULA/RELATION
(ii) Substitution

20 QUADRATIC EQUATIONS (i) Solution of quadratic equations

(ii) Forming quadratic equation with given roots.

(iii) Application of solution of quadratic equation in

practical problems.

21 GRAPHS OF LINEAR & (i) Interpretation of graphs, coordinate of points,

QUADRATIC FUNCTIONS table of values, drawing quadratic graphs and
obtaining roots from graphs.

( ii ) Graphical solution of a pair of equations of

the form: y = ax\(^{2}\) + bx + c and y = mx + k *

(iii) Drawing tangents to curves to determine the

gradient at a given point.

22 LINEAR INEQUALITIES (i) Solution of linear inequalities in one variable

and representation on the number line.

∗(ii) Graphical solution of linear inequalities in

two variables.

∗(iii) Graphical solution of simultaneous linear

inequalities in two variables.

23 ALGEBRAIC FUNCTIONS Operations on algebraic fractions with:

(i) Monomial denominators

( ii ) Binomial denominators

24 FUNCTIONS AND Types of Functions

RELATIONS

PART III: MENSURATION

25 LENGTHS & PERIMETERS (i) Use of Pythagoras theorem, sine and cosine
rules to determine lengths and distances.

(ii) Lengths of arcs of circles, perimeters of

sectors and segments.
 (iii) Longitudes and Latitudes.

26 AREAS (i) Triangles and special quadrilaterals –

rectangles, parallelograms and trapeziums

(ii) Circles, sectors and segments of circles.

(iii) Surface areas of cubes, cuboids, cylinder,

pyramids, righttriangular prisms, cones
andspheres.

27 VOLUMES (i) Volumes of cubes, cuboids, cylinders, cones,

right pyramids and spheres.

(ii) Volumes of similar solids

PART IV: PLANE GEOMETRY

28 ANGLES (i) Angles at a point add up to 360°.

(ii) Adjacent angles on a straight line are

supplementary.

(iii) Vertically opposite angles are equal.

28 ANGLES & INTERCEPTS (i) Alternate angles are equal.

AT PARALLEL LINES
(ii)Corresponding angles are equal.

(iii)Interior opposite angles are supplementary

(iv) Intercept theorem.

29 TRIANGLES AND (i) The sum of the angles of a triangle is 2 right

POLYGONS angles.

(ii) The exterior angle of a triangle equals the sum

of the two interior opposite angles.

(iii) Congruent triangles.

( iv ) Properties of special triangles – Isosceles,

equilateral, right-angled, etc

(v) Properties of special

quadrilaterals – parallelogram, rhombus, square,

rectangle, trapezium.

( vi )Properties of similar triangles.

( vii ) The sum of the angles of a polygon

 (viii) Property of exterior angles of a polygon.

(ix) Parallelograms on the same base and

between the same parallels are equal in area.

30 CIRCLES (i) Chords.

(ii) The angle which an arc of a circle subtends at

the centre of the circle is twice that which it
subtends at any point on the remaining part of the
circumference.

(iii) Any angle subtended at the circumference by

a diameter is a right angle. (iv) Angles in the
same segment are equal.

(v) Angles in opposite segments are

supplementary.

(vi)Perpendicularity of tangent and radius.

(vii)If a tangent is drawn to a circle and from the

point of contact a chord is drawn, each angle
which this chord makes with the tangent is equal
to the angle in the alternate segment.

31 CONSTRUCTION (i) Bisectors of angles and line segments

(ii) Line parallel or perpendicular to a given line.

(iii )Angles e.g. 90°, 60°, 45°, 30°, and an angle

equal to a given angle.

(iv) Triangles and quadrilaterals from sufficient

data.

32 LOCI Knowledge of the loci listed below and their

intersections in 2 dimensions.

(i) Points at a given distance from a given point.

(ii) Points equidistant from two given points.

(iii)Points equidistant from two given straight

lines.

(iv)Points at a given distance from a given

straight line

PART V: COORDINATE GEOMETRY OF STRAIGHT LINES

33 CO-ORDINATE (i) Concept of the x-y plane.
GEOMETRY OF STRAIGHT
LINES (ii) Coordinates of points on the x-y plane.

PART VI: TRIGONOMETRY

34 SINE, COSINE AND (i) Sine, Cosine and Tangent of acute angles.
TANGENT OF AN ANGLE
(ii) Use of tables of trigonometric ratios.

(iii) Trigonometric ratios of 30°, 45° and 60°.

(iv) Sine, cosine and tangent of angles from 0° to

360°.

(v)Graphs of sine and cosine.

(vi) Graphs of trigonometric ratios

35 ANGLES IF ELEVATION & (i) Calculating angles of elevation and

DEPRESSION depression.

(ii) Application to heights and distances.

36 BEARINGS (i) Bearing of one point from another.

(ii) Calculation of distances and angles

PART VI: INTRODUCTORY CALCULUS

40 INTRODUCTORY (i) Differentiation of algebraic functions.

CALCULUS
(i) Differentiation of algebraic functions.

(ii) Integration of simple Algebraic functions.

PART VII: STATISTICS AND PROBABILITY

41 STATISTICS (i) Frequency distribution

( ii ) Pie charts, bar charts, histograms and

frequency polygons

(iii) Mean, median and mode for both discrete

and grouped data.

(iv) Cumulative frequency curve (Ogive).

(v) Measures of Dispersion: range, semi inter-

quartile/interquartile range, variance, mean
deviation and standard deviation.
42 PROBABILITY (i) Experimental and theoretical probability.

(ii) Addition of probabilities for mutually exclusive

and independent events.

(iii) Multiplication of probabilities for independent

events.

PART VIII: VECTORS & TRANSFORMATION

43 VECTORS IN A PLANE (i) Vectors as a directed line segment.

(ii) Cartesian components of a vector

(iii) Magnitude of a vector, equal vectors, addition

and subtraction of vectors, zero vector, parallel
vectors, multiplication of a vector by scalar.

44 TRANSFORMATION IN THE (i) Reflection of points and shapes in the

CARTESIAN PLANE Cartesian Plane.

(ii) Rotation of points and shapes in the Cartesian

Plane.

(iii) Translation of points and shapes in the

Cartesian Plane.