JAMB Okays Cut-off Marks For Varsities, Polys, CoEs
BY EDMOND ODOK – Following the poor scores recorded by candidates in this year’s Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations (UTME), the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board on Thursday approved revised cut-off marks for Universities, Polytechnics and Colleges of Education in the country.
Reports indicate that the decision was reached after a heated session attended by officials from JAMB, the Ministry of Education, the National Universities Commission (NUC) and the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) among other stakeholders.
The Registrar of JAMB, Professor Ishaq Oloyede, who announced the cut-off after votes by vice chancellors of universities, rectors of polytechnics and provosts of colleges of education, said the implication is that every institution has the right to fix its own cut-off mark even up to 220.
However, he said no one will be allowed to go below the agreed minimum cut off marks of 100 for Colleges of Education, 100 for Polytechnics and 140 for Universities.
The meeting also advocated the need for a review of admission criteria to give 10 percent discretional power of admission to heads of tertiary institutions
Unlike the 2021, the adopted cut-off marks revealed that institutions now have uniform cut-off marks for the 2022 admissions.
According to Prof Oloyede, for federal universities, merit quota remained 45 per cent while that of the state universities falls between indigene quota and national quota.
“The National merit quota for State institutions is the first 10 per cent irrespective of location of the candidate, 35 per cent allowed to indigenes of the state,” he said.
The JAMB Registrar disclosed that only 378,639 of the 1,761,338 who wrote the 2022 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations (UTME) scored 200 and above.
Giving further statistics of the examination, Oloyede noted that 378,639 scored above 200; a total of 520,596 candidates scored 190 and above; 704,991 scored 180 and above; 934,103 scored 170 and above; 1,192, 057 scored 160 and above.
Similarly, he disclosed that 98,270 applied for Direct Entry into the universities through the board.
Addressing other issues of concern, the JAMB Boss said the Board had to bend backwards in allowing awaiting results candidates to register for the 2022 UTME.
Prof Oloyede stated thus; “JAMB allowed awaiting results candidates to register and sit for the 2022 UTME”, but added that; “These candidates can’t be considered for admission on awaiting result status.
“They must present their O’level results on the board’s portal before the commencement of admissions”.
Also, the meeting resolved that December 31 would be the deadline for 2022 admissions into all public institutions and private institutions across the country for Universities, Polytechnics and Colleges of Education.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu has urged tertiary institutions to adopt a more flexible posture in the admissions process provided all actions were in compliance with the guidelines.
“Just as in the previous admissions exercises, the admissions criteria still remain as approved and circulated.
“All institutions must therefore adhere strictly to them and all others prescribed by the regulatory bodies such as the National Universities Commission (NUC), National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) and the National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE).
“This is particularly with regards to approved quotas, ratios and other specifications meant for improved quality, accountability and equity,” he said.
