WAEC Woodwork Syllabus 2026/2027

If you are reading this, you are probably one of those SS3 students who picked Woodwork, and now you are looking for the real syllabus for 2026/2027 so you don’t read rubbish and fail.

I wrote this the way I would explain it to my younger brother, this is because I know that most secondary school students might not understand big grammar. That’s the reason we prefer using simple English here at Exambot.

The 2026/2027 syllabus is almost exactly the same as the one they used in 2025, so everything here is 100% correct.

Woodwork as a subject helps students learn the basic skills and knowledge needed to work with wood. These skills are important for technology and future learning after school.

The subject allows students to show their understanding and skill in:
(a) drawing and designing;
(b) practical woodwork;
(c) how to build wooden items correctly.

Aims & Objectives

Students should be able to:
(a) use hand tools and machines to make simple wooden items;
(b) understand design and read working drawings;
(c) plan and follow steps to complete a woodwork project;
(d) use woodworking skills to earn a living;
(e) understand problems that affect wood and the wood industry.

Exam Format

Paper	What You Do	Marks	Time	My Tip
Paper 1	Practical – make one test piece	100	3 hours	This is where A1 people cash out
Paper 2	Drawing & Design (from sketch or spec)	100	2 hours	Draw neat, use pencil only
Paper 3A	40 Obj questions	40	40 mins	Very fast, finish in 25 mins
Paper 3B	4 Essay questions – answer 3	60	1 hour	Always answer the design question

WAEC Woodwork Syllabus 2026/2027

PRACTICAL

1. Practical Activities

Area	What Students Must Use
(a) Hand tools	Common hand tools
(b) Power tools	Portable power tools and basic machines
(c) Joints & shapes	Different wood joints and shapes
(d) Fasteners	Nails, screws and other fastenings

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2. Working From Drawings

Students must be able to work from:
Dimensioned sketches
Written descriptions
Scaled drawings

Required Joints

Type of Joint	Examples
(a) Widening joints	simple butt, dowelled, tongue & groove, rebated
(b) Angle joints
— Box joints	common dovetail, lapped dovetail, pin joints
— Shelf joints	housing joints, pinned joints
(c) Framing joints	mortice and tenon, bridle, lapped joints

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Required Operations

Operation	Examples
(i) Shaping	chamfering, rounding, tapering
(ii) Assembling/finishing	checking squareness, checking parallelism, using diagonals, trial assembly, clamping, surface preparation, applying finishes

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THEORY

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1. Safety Precautions

Type	Details
(a) Personal safety	clothing, habits
(b) Workshop safety	hand tools, machines, fire, lighting, ventilation, environment, electricity
(c) First Aid	safety equipment and first aid care

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2. Tools

2.1 Hand Tools

Category	Examples
(a) Measuring tools	rule, calipers
(b) Cutting/shaping	saws, planes, chisels, spokeshaves
(c) Abrasion & scraping	files, scrapers, sandpapers
(d) Boring	brace, bits, drills, gimlet, bradawl
(e) Percussion/impelling	hammers, screwdrivers, mallet
(f) Holding/supporting	cramps, bench vice, cutting-board, pincers

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2.2 Portable Power Tools

Tool Type	Examples
(a) Power planes	power hand planer, router planer
(b) Power saws	jig saw, portable power saw
(c) Sanders	orbital, belt, drum, disc
(d) Drilling	hand drill
(e) Spraying	spray gun

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2.3 Special Purpose Hand Tools

Category	Examples
(a) Planes	plough plane, compass plane, router plane, shoulder plane, block plane, rebate plane, bullnose plane, spokeshave
(b) Saws	coping saw, fret saw, bow saw, compass saw, pad saw, junior hacksaw
(c) Boring bits	expansion bit, forstner bit, countersink bit, auger bit
(d) Shapers	scrapers, rasps, surform

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3. Woodworking Machines

3.1 Machine Accessories

Accessory	Use
Guards, jigs, fences, push sticks, push blocks, gauges	Safety and accuracy

3.2 Machine Types

Category	Machines
(a) Maintenance	grinding wheel
(b) Sawing	circular saw bench, cross-cut saw, bandsaw
(c) Planing	surfacer/jointer, thicknesser
(d) Morticing	chain mortiser, chisel mortiser, horizontal borer
(e) Shaping	lathe, spindle moulder, drum sander, jig saw, router
(f) Boring	drill press

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4. Materials

4.1 Timber

A. Classification

Type	Examples
Hardwoods	From broad-leaf trees
Softwoods	From conifer trees

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B. Growth

Feature	Description
Height & girth	size of tree
Food from soil	nutrients
Parts	cross and longitudinal sections

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C. Surface Quality

Property	Meaning
Grain	wood pattern
Texture	smoothness/roughness
Figure	decorative markings
Colour	natural shade

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D. Mechanical Properties

Property	Meaning
Hardness	resistance to wear
Strength	tensile, compressive, shear
Elasticity	ability to bend
Toughness	ability to absorb shock

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E. Conversion (Cutting Logs Into Boards)

Method	Description
Through/Plain sawing	simple straight cuts
Back/Tangential sawing	cuts across growth rings
Quarter/Radial sawing	cuts through centre for quality boards

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F. Marketable Sizes

Timber Form
log, board, plank, strip, batten, square, scantling, flooring board, flooring block

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G. Seasoning (Drying Wood)

Type	Method
(i) Natural	open air
(ii) Artificial	kiln
(iii) Water	soaking
(iv) Chemical	chemical drying

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H. Measuring Moisture

Method	Description
Oven dry	drying in oven
Moisture meter	electronic reading

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I. Wood Preservation

Topic	Details
Reasons	prevent rot, insects, decay
Types	tar oil, water-borne, organic solvent
Good preservative	non-toxic, durable, easy to apply
Application	pressure treatment (full cell, empty cell), spraying, brushing, dipping, hot/cold treatment, steeping

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J. Timber Defects

Type	Examples
Natural	knots, burr, grain defects
Organism damage	rot, borers
Processing defects	diagonal grain, upset, compression shake
Seasoning defects	splits, warp, shakes, honeycombing, case hardening

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K. West African Timbers

Timber	Notes
iroko (Odum), abura, mahogany, obeche (wawa), walnut, afara, ebony, danta, emery, shedua, mansonia, cedar, afromosia (kokrodua), avodire, kusia	characteristics, uses, working qualities

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L. Veneer

Topic	Examples
Methods	rotary, slicing, half-slicing
Types	face, core, back veneers

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M. Manufactured Boards

Types
plywood, blockboard, laminboard, chipboard, particle board, batten board, hardboard, fibreboard

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4.2 Surface Decoration

Methods
Inlaying, veneering, marquetry, laminated plastics, edging (wood, plastic, metal), mouldings, incised carving, relief carving

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4.3 Non-Wood Materials

Category	Examples
Nails	French/wire, oval wire, lost-head
Screws	countersunk, raised head, round head, Philips
Plastics	fibreglass, thermosetting, thermoplastic
Glass	opaque, transparent, decorative
Leather	natural, artificial
Abrasives	glasspaper, garnet paper
Fittings	locks, hinges, bolts, catches, castors, stays

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4.3.1 Adhesives

Type	Examples
Protein	animal glue, casein
Synthetic	urea, phenol, melamine formaldehyde
Contact	rubber-based (e.g., Evostick)

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5. Finishing and Finishes

Area	Details
(a) Surface preparation	planing, scraping, sanding, filling, staining, bleaching, spraying, polishing
(b) Materials	fillers, stains, paints, varnishes, lacquers, polishes, laminated plastics
(c) Properties	oxidation, evaporation
(d) Application	manual, mechanical
(e) Safety	safe handling of chemicals

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6. Shaping and Bending

Type	Description
Solid & laminated	types of bending
Kerf & curve cutting	saw kerf bending
Laminated bending	using formers

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7. Woodwork Joints

Category	Examples
Angle joints	mortice & tenon, dowel, dovetail, housing, halving
Widening joints	dowel, tongue & groove, loose tongue, rebated butt
Framing joints	mortice & tenon, bridle, mitre, dowelled

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8. Upholstery

Category	Examples
Tools	tack hammer, strainer, curved needle, straight needle, tack remover, stapler, sewing machine
Materials	twine, thread, springs, jute, hessian, foam, webbing, fabric, leather, feathers, tack nails, studs, cotton
Parts	frame, platform, stuffing/padding, covering

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9. Design and Drawing

Topic	Details
Design factors	purpose, proportion, suitability, looks, cost
Freehand sketching	sketching ideas
Working drawings	preparing technical drawings
Cutting list	quantity + cost of materials
Projects	stools, chairs, tables, shelves, cabinets, cupboards, trays, racks
Geometry	lines, angles, triangles, polygons, ellipses, circles, tangency

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10. Mensuration

Includes
linear measurement, area, volume, percentage calculations

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11. Wood Turning

Topic	Details
Lathe	parts and accessories
Tools	gouges, chisels
Operations	face plate turning, between centres turning, boring
Projects	vase, cup, egg holder, bowl, stand, candle holder, mouldings, baton

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12. Mass Production

Step	Description
(i) Design	creating the idea
(ii) Template	pattern making
(iii) Prototype	first model
(iv) Quality control	checking errors
(v) Jigs & fixtures	helping tools
(vi) Division of labour	splitting work
(vii) Trial run	testing production
(viii) Assembly line	final production

Just like I have posted for woodwork, that’s the same way I’m going to do for other subjects. The reason is, I’m an instructor and always want secondary school students to pass in flying colours.