The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has commenced moves to introduce life skills and critical thinking into the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), in a major effort to align the nation’s tertiary admission test with changing demands in higher education.
The Registrar of JAMB, Prof. Segun Aina, disclosed this on Wednesday in Abuja during the inauguration of a committee of stakeholders and experts mandated to develop a framework for integrating life skills and critical thinking into the UTME.
Aina said the initiative was necessary because the UTME, which primarily performs a ranking function among candidates who already possess O-Level qualifications, should not merely duplicate the subject-based assessment conducted by examination bodies such as the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and the National Examinations Council (NECO).
According to him, candidates sitting for UTME have already been assessed at the subject-matter level through their O-Level examinations.
“So ours is a ranking task. It’s not necessarily to test your subject matter expertise. So we feel for the UTME examination to be purely subject matter is a duplicity of effort of sorts,” the registrar said.
He said the board was seeking to incorporate skills that candidates deploy in real-life situations into the assessment process, arguing that the current system should be subjected to critical review to determine whether it remains effective in predicting candidates’ performance at the tertiary level.
“Are the methods that we are employing to check and predict who will do well in the university or the polytechnic or the college of education, are they still valid? Are they good enough?” Aina asked.
The registrar noted that the UTME format had remained largely unchanged for more than three decades, stressing that JAMB itself must be prepared to assess whether its examination methods remained relevant to the changing education environment.
“The biggest room in the house is the room for improvement. So we want the committee to help us take a look at this,” he said.
Aina said JAMB deliberately constituted the committee with stakeholders from different segments of the education ecosystem because the board could not independently determine the best approach without taking into account the views of those who would be affected by the proposed reforms.
“We cannot be judges in our own matter. So we have assembled a team of stakeholders who are also experts in their own rights to join us in taking a look at this issue, to guide us and to make sure that any decision we take is one that is broadly acceptable to all the stakeholders who will be affected by these decisions,” he said.
He described the assignment as a national responsibility, saying the committee had an initial four-week period to examine the proposal from a conceptual perspective.
On the duration of the committee, Aina said, “we will respond to the requests of the committee as they see fit, within reason. But they’ve been given an initial time of four weeks to look into this.”
Also speaking at the event, Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, who was represented by Technical Assistant to the Acting Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, Mr Oni Adedeji, said the initiative was consistent with the Federal Government’s broader efforts to reform assessment in the education sector.
He charged the committee to develop standardized, fair and transparent assessment modalities capable of measuring candidates’ analytical, logical and verbal reasoning abilities beyond mere recall of subject content.
Alausa said the committee’s assignment would include determining how the proposed components would be deployed, whether through a standardized examination or by embedding them within existing UTME subjects.
The minister said the reform was aimed at creating an assessment system that would test not only what young Nigerians know, but also how effectively they could think, reason and solve problems.
“I strongly believe getting these rights will shape how Nigeria evaluates readiness for tertiary education now and in years to come,” Alausa said.
He assured the committee of the Federal Ministry of Education’s continued collaboration and support throughout the assignment.
Responding, the chairman of the committee, Prof. Boniface Nworgu of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, said the effectiveness of UTME should ultimately be measured by its ability to identify candidates with the strongest prospects of succeeding in tertiary education.
Nworgu explained that JAMB conducts a selection examination rather than a certificate examination, making it necessary for the examination to accurately predict candidates’ potential for academic success.
“What JAMB is expected to do and what it is doing is to look at those measures that can help us to select the candidates that have the highest promise of succeeding in academic tasks at the tertiary education level,” he said.
He argued that the validity of UTME must be continuously reviewed because the curriculum and skills requirements of tertiary institutions have changed considerably over the years.
According to him, the transition in university curricula from the Benchmark Minimum Academic Standards (BMAS) to the Core Curriculum and Minimum Academic Standards (CCMAS) has brought greater emphasis on skills and critical thinking.
“The focus now is the area of skills and then critical thinking. So, what Jan is trying to do is understandable from that perspective,” Nworgu said.
He stressed that the committee would not limit itself strictly to life skills and critical thinking if its deliberations revealed other measures capable of improving the predictive validity of UTME.
“If in the course of our deliberations, we find out that there are other measures that can improve the predictive validity of the UTMB, we’re certainly going to make appropriate recommendations,” he said.
Nworgu also promised that the committee would insist on evidence to determine whether any proposed changes to UTME were achieving their intended objectives.
“We are not going to make that mistake in this case,” he said, referring to interventions that are introduced without establishing a baseline for measuring their effectiveness.
He added: “If we have been using UTME for this number of years and we want to produce a modified UTME, so to speak, there must be evidence at the end of the day that this effort was on time, that we did not waste the taxpayers’ money doing what is beneficial to the society.”
While assuring of the readiness of the committee to deliver on its assigned task, he promised not to disappoint JAMB in carrying out the assignment.
The committee comprises representatives and stakeholders drawn from universities, examination bodies, professional regulatory councils, students’ groups, secondary schools and development organisations.
Members include Prof. Boniface Nworgu (University of Nigeria, Nsukka)- chairman, Prof. M. Yakasai (Bayero University, Kano), Afolabi S. Imoukhuedе, Prof. Idris Mohammed (Medical and Dental Council), Zakariyau Abdullahi (WAEC), Engr. Prof. Aaron Aboshio (Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria), Dr. Murtala Aliyu Sakwa (National Board for Technical Education), Prof. Duke Okoro (Council of Heads of Polytechnics and Colleges of Technology in Nigeria), and Jiya Umar Mohammed (All Nigerian Conference of Principals of Secondary Schools).
Others are Dr. Chima Egbujuo (Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council), Dr. Emmanuel Udontre (Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria), Salawudeen Kamorudeen Opeyemi (Senior Special Assistant to the President on Students’ Engagement), Catherine-Onyejeche Ibrahim (United Nations Development Programme), Dr. Fadipe E. Oladotun (Veterinary Council of Nigeria), Dr. Alimigbe Frances (Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria), Lawrence B. Aremu (National Commission for Colleges of Education), and Edidiong Lawrence Moses (Committee of Vice-Chancellors of Nigeria).
The remaining members are Prof. Raymond Emmanuel (National Business and Technical Examinations Board), Dr. Clinton (Nigerian Union of Teachers), Dr. Anthony Idoko (Pharmacy Council of Nigeria), Akinteye Babatunde Afeez (National Association of Nigerian Students), Dr. Esa Onoja (Council of Legal Education), Dr. Esther Mmekа (National Universities Commission), Dr. Yusuf Abbas Raji (National Board for Arabic and Islamic Studies), Prof. Babawale T. Bello (University of Lagos), and Arc. Kayode (Architects Registration Council of Nigeria).
The committee is expected to submit its initial recommendations within four weeks, after which JAMB may proceed to a further stage involving assessment experts to develop or implement the details of any adopted framework.
The report concerns preparations for the 2027 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) and a move toward assessing candidates beyond simple recall.
The broader reform agenda is also connected to Nigeria’s planned transition toward more secure, computer-based examinations by 2027.
What this could mean for 2027 UTME candidates
More reasoning-based questions: Candidates may need to apply concepts, interpret information and solve unfamiliar problems rather than rely solely on memorisation.
Greater emphasis on critical thinking: Questions could increasingly test analysis, logical reasoning and the ability to draw conclusions from information.
The committee’s work suggests JAMB is examining ways of measuring abilities relevant to learning and problem-solving.
Preparation should go beyond past-question memorisation: Candidates should understand their syllabus thoroughly and practise application, reasoning and time management.
