JAMB: 1,456 candidates who scored above 300 in UTME didn’t get admission

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) says 1,456 candidates who scored 300 and above during last year’s Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) did not get admission into tertiary institutions for the 2020/2021 academic session.

Is-haq Oloyede, the board’s registrar, broke the news on Tuesday during the virtual 2021 admission policy meeting chaired by Adamu Adamu, the minister of education.

According to Oloyede, out of 4,948 applicants who scored 300 and above, only 3,492 candidates gained admissions into higher institutions, with the remaining 1,456 unable to pull through.

Giving a further breakdown, Oloyede said 1,085 of the 1,456 candidates who scored over 300 but were unable to secure admission applied to study medicine.

The JAMB registrar, however, disclosed that the number of candidates who had 300 and above in 2020 but did not get admission was higher than that of 2019 — which stood at 679.

In his presentation titled “Titbits on 2020 admission and 2021 UTME,” Oloyede also disclosed that about 52,323 candidates scored between 250 and 299 in the exam out of which 22,580 could not secure admission.

Similarly, the JAMB registrar added that 193,661 candidates out of 347,469 who scored between 200 and 249 were not offered admission.

During the presentation, Oloyede attributed the inability of students who had high UTME scores to gain admission into tertiary institutions to factors such as wrong O’level subject combination and low post-UTME screening scores.

Others, he said, include the rigidity of applicants who often insist on a particular programme, UTME-combination deficiency, and duplication of application.

Oloyede added that the development could also be due to absence from post-UTME screening, mismatch of catchment institutions, and failure of candidates to upload their O’level with five credits in the required subjects.

TheCable had reported how JAMB cancelled the general cut-off marks for admission into tertiary institutions — for the first time in 43 years.