What prospective UTME candidates need to know about 2017 JAMB

AS prospective candidates of the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME, eagerly await commencement of 2017 registration, there are many things candidates need to know about the entire process. Candidates across the country should be aware that no fewer than 1.7 million candidates will be jostling for the 2017 UTME where 250 persons are expected to be in an examination hall. In 2016, there were 1,561,443 candidates that registered for the examination. This year about 2,000,000 candidates are expected, as disclosed by JAMB registrar.


In this light, examination centres are expected to have hall(s) with 250 functional desktop or laptop computer systems with 25 as backups. Computers must have a minimum of 15 inches screens and must be connected to robust servers with the capacity to carry a minimum of 250 systems concurrently. Owing to space constraints, prospective candidates need to ensure they register early as soon as registration starts this month to avoid being transferred to other states for their examinations.

JAMB is expected to round off the examination in all the centres within seven days. All JAMB approved examination centres, according to Oloyede are equipped with examination computers and CCTV cameras to track down any form of examination malpractices within and outside the halls.

Candidates are expected to spend more time to study and adequately prepare for the examination rather than look for leaked questions because cheating in any form will be picked by the CCTV camera while the entire results will be cancelled. Meanwhile, mock UTME is to be conducted for those who are taking the computer based test examinations for the first time, as it will help them have a feel of what the main examination will look like.

According to feelers close to JAMB, exposing candidates to mock UTME was one of the reasons for the delay in sales of the examination forms. Moreover, if the government enforces the bill passed into law on October 13, 2016, the result candidates get from this year’s examination will be valid for three years and not one year as it was previously.

Besides, unlike previous years where the services of cyber cafe owners were employed for the registration of UTME candidates, under the leadership of the new registrar, Professor Ishaq Oloyede, from 2017, only accredited centres by JAMB will be patronised for e-registration.

 Ahead of 2017 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME, the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, has agreed on a harmonised timetable with other examination bodies in the country to have a hitch free examination. The bodies agreed that for the purpose of the 2017 UTME, JAMB will shift its examinations forward to allow students write WAEC, NECO and NABTEB examinations.

 Contrary to the insinuation that candidates awaiting results were disqualified from registering for the 2017 UTME, JAMB spokesman, Dr. Fabian Benjamin while speaking with Vanguard said that such candidates can register for the UTME, adding that they must also ensure that their results are ready and uploaded on JAMB and institution’s website before admission. He said:

“They can register, but at the point of admission, if your status is still indicating awaiting results, you will not be recommended for admission. For instance, if you write the exam in May, and in June, your results is on our website, by August when we will be going for our policy technical meeting, your result is there, you will be considered for admission.

“As soon as you get your results, you should upload it on our website or the institutions’ website. No recommendations from the institution will be coming to JAMB without the candidate’s results.” On the sales of UTME forms, he said: “By the grace of God, before the end of this week, the advertisement will be published.

Moreover, in the past, when chosing the four subjects for UTME, some candidates were allowed to make English Language optional, but now, English Language must be included in the four subjects. To be properly registered in the 2017 UTME, the prospective candidates’ ten fingers print must be captured for biometrics and must have created JAMB’s personal profile. In creating the personal profile, candidates must do the following: Visit JAMB official website, go to the login button close to the post registration facility and click on login.

 The site will display a new page, click on the created new account button and you will be required to fill in the following details: Name, surname, email address, password and date of birth. After the creation of the account, login to view your created profile.

 In the new policy, candidates have the option of choosing two first degree institutions and any two of ND, NCE or IEI. Candidates can also make their choices to include four IEI or three NCE and one ND or degree. Candidates are required to get their O’Level results ready, because they will required to upload these during registration.

 Prospective candidates are enjoined to be wary of those selling JAMB scratch cards, as there will be no sales of scratch cards for registration. Candidates can now have the option of selecting different examination years and examination type when combining their O’Level results.