JAMB:- Having Minimum UTME Score Does Not Guarantee Admission

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has reminded candidates who took the 2020 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) that there is no uniform minimum UTME score that guarantees them admission into institutions of their choice. This was contained in the weekly bulletin made available by JAMB.

JAMB stated that some candidates have the impression that it is only the UTME score that constitutes the benchmark for admission.

According to JAMB, UTME score is not the sole determinant of the placement of candidates into tertiary institutions. Other parameters are Post-UTME /Post -A/ L qualifications screening/test score; O/L grade score; and in some cases, physical test (such as applicable in the Nigerian Defence Academy/Police Academy). Therefore, It is the score from all the segments that are added together to have an eventual ranking table or “cut off” score.

The bulletin mentioned that that there are cases of candidates with UTME scores of above 300 that may eventually rank below some other candidates with UTME score of 200 when all other scores are aggregated.’

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In addition, even though JAMB determines national cut-off marks for admissions, institutions are at liberty to decide their own cut-off points based on certain conditions as communicated and approved by JAMB. Even within each institution, there is a different minimum score (cut –off) for admission into different programmes (courses). They are usually significantly higher for courses such as MBBS, Engineering, Nursing, Law, etc, with overall available space of less than 10% of the applicants.

Candidates are therefore advised to be conscious of these parameters for admission even before the application for participation in the UTME.