The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has announced the successful execution of the foreign component of the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) in eight countries on Saturday, July 13. This examination was designed for foreign candidates aspiring to gain admission to Nigerian tertiary institutions.
The cities where the examinations took place include London (United Kingdom), Jeddah (Saudi Arabia), Buea (Cameroon), Accra (Ghana), Cotonou (Benin Republic), Johannesburg (South Africa), Abidjan (Cote D’Ivoire), and Banjul (The Gambia).
By conducting the UTME in these locations, JAMB aims to showcase Nigerian tertiary institutions to a global audience, positioning them alongside international counterparts. “This initiative has successfully attracted international students to Nigerian universities. Furthermore, JAMB has incorporated the number of foreign students admitted by an institution as a criterion for the NATAP M-Award, recognizing institutions that excel in international student recruitment,” JAMB stated in its Monday Bulletin obtained in Abuja.
The Board also reaffirmed that the 2024 admission exercise would soon commence, with preparations in place for the Admission Policy Meeting on Thursday, July 18. The meeting, chaired by the Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, authorizes the commencement of the year’s admission exercise.
The 2024 exercise will feature the National Tertiary Admissions’ Performance-Merit Award (NATAP-M Awards), with the overall winner receiving N500 million and other consolation winners sharing N250 million collectively. The policy meeting, attended by Vice-Chancellors of Universities, Rectors of Polytechnics, Monotechnics, and Innovation Enterprise Institutes, Provosts of Colleges of Education, and other stakeholders, will consider and approve the guidelines for the 2024 admission exercise. The meeting will also review the performance of the 2023 admissions exercise and the 2024 UTME candidates’ performance.
JAMB clarified that the minimum admission scores, aggregated from individual institutions’ submissions, would be approved at the meeting. “The minimum admission scores, an aggregation of individual institutions’ submissions, will be approved at the meeting. This is not a cut-off mark, as often misconstrued, but a minimum score that no institution should go below. The decisions made at the meeting, chaired by the Hon Minister of Education, form the guiding norms for admission and are a collective decision, not solely that of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB).”
The Board emphasized that no institution is expected to commence the admission process until after the policy meeting. “No institution is expected to commence the admission process until after the policy meeting, as the guidelines regulating the year’s admission exercise are determined at the meeting with the endorsement of the Hon Minister of Education. The meeting declares the commencement of the year’s admission exercise, setting the grand norms, and any institution that violates these collective norms will face sanctions.”
JAMB also highlighted the importance of processing all admissions through the Central Admissions Processing System (CAPS). “A key rule is that all admissions must be processed through the Central Admissions Processing System (CAPS), and any candidate who accepts admission outside CAPS does so at their own risk,” the Board stated.
