Direct Entry Candidates To Sit For UTME Exam Henceforth – Says JAMB. Details below

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has announced that candidates seeking Direct Entry (DE) admission into any Nigerian university will now be made to sit the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).

Before this new development, only candidates who without diploma or other requirement for direct entry, are made to sit the UTME to gain admission into the universities. But holders of requirements for direct entry admission are only permitted to register without sitting examinations.

However, in a statement issued on Thursday and signed by its Head of Public Affairs and Protocol Unit, Fabian Benjamin, JAMB said going forward, Direct Entry candidates would have to sit the UTME like their fellow first year applicants, to prove the authenticity of the certificates they present for direct entry admission.

JAMB said that the new policy was to ensure that the DE candidates justify the possession of their A’level certificates.

According to the statement by JAMB, the decision was taken at the management committee meeting held “to appraise the recent crisis witnessed in the conduct of the 2023 Direct Entry registration.”

It added that the seeming crisis was caused by the implementation of some of its “newly-adopted processes aimed at curbing infractions in the admission value chain given our national peculiarities.”

JAMB’s statement reads in part: “Another major policy change also to be implemented by the Board to holistically address all loopholes giving rise to abuses in the Direct Entry admission processes is that all DE candidates, which comprise those seeking to be in Year Two in the universities, would henceforth be required to sit the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination UTME along with other candidates for them to justify the possession of their A’ level certificates.

“This policy is to be situated within the ambit of the Board’s relentless efforts aimed at enhancing the growth of the nation’s education sector as it would promote transparency, accountability, and good governance. It also underscores the Board’s commitment and determination towards changing the negative narrative of A’ level admissions into higher institutions in Nigeria.”

The statement above does not however state which year that will commence, but we assume that will commence by next year 2024 JAMB registration.

Read Also: JAMB Remits N2 Billion To Federal Government