By Kazeem Waris
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) is set to introduce major technology-driven reforms ahead of the 2027 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), including a mobile pre-registration application designed to eliminate registration errors and prevent candidates from selecting wrong subject combinations.
The reforms will also introduce enhanced biometric verification at examination centres, a platform for candidates to report potentially faulty questions and a post-examination rating system through which candidates can assess the performance of their Computer-Based Test (CBT) centres.
JAMB Registrar, Professor Segun Aina, disclosed the planned innovations on Saturday in Abuja, explaining that the initiatives were designed to simplify registration, strengthen examination security and improve the credibility of the admission process.
Aina spoke after a five-kilometre fitness walk organised for the board’s staff as part of preparations for the 2027 UTME.
He said the proposed pre-registration application would enable prospective candidates to complete important registration procedures from their homes before visiting accredited centres for final registration and biometric capture.
According to him, the mobile application would allow candidates to retrieve their personal information from the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), complete their biodata and select their preferred subjects, courses and institutions ahead of the actual registration.
The application would also provide academic guidance, including information on the previous year’s entry marks for candidates’ preferred courses, to help them make informed choices.
“There are a lot of innovations that are coming up. Now we are rolling out what we are calling a pre-registration application.
“It’s a mobile application that allows you, from the comfort of your own home, to get your details from NIMC, register with your biodata, select your subjects, your courses and your institution.
“During that process, we will be giving some advanced advisory that we didn’t use to give before. For instance, when you are trying to select a course, you will see an idea of what the entry marks for that course were in the previous year,” he said.
The registrar said the initiative would reduce the time candidates spend at registration centres and minimise avoidable errors during the registration process.
He particularly emphasised the planned introduction of a system that would automatically prevent candidates from proceeding with applications containing subject combinations that do not meet the requirements of their chosen courses.
He said the measure was necessary to address recurring cases of candidates selecting inappropriate subject combinations, which could affect their admission prospects.
“We are going to make that technically impossible, which means you cannot progress with your application if the subject combination is wrong. And a lot of other innovations are coming,” Aina said.
On examination security, the JAMB boss announced plans to strengthen biometric verification at CBT centres to prevent impersonation and other forms of examination malpractice.
He explained that while the board had introduced concessions to reduce difficulties candidates encounter when correcting their personal information, it would intensify identity verification during examinations to safeguard the integrity of the process.
“We have given up some ground and made some concessions to reduce trauma for the candidates in terms of being able to change their biodata and things like that.
“And in exchange for that, we will be applying enhanced checks at the point of the examination to make sure that we protect the integrity of the system,” he stated.
In another development, candidates participating in the 2027 UTME will be able to flag examination questions they consider defective through a dedicated button on the computer-based testing platform.
Aina said the feature would enable candidates to report questionable questions in real time, giving the board an opportunity to investigate complaints and determine whether the affected questions were properly framed.
He, however, cautioned that difficult questions should not automatically be regarded as faulty, explaining that the reporting mechanism would provide JAMB with feedback to assess the quality and accuracy of its examination questions.
The board is also planning a post-examination rating system that will enable candidates to assess the quality of services provided by their respective CBT centres.
According to Aina, the initiative is intended to strengthen accountability among private operators engaged by the board and provide a direct feedback channel for candidates to report their experiences.
He acknowledged the contributions of CBT centre operators to the examination process since JAMB adopted computer-based testing more than a decade ago, but stressed the importance of maintaining operational standards through effective monitoring.
The proposed rating mechanism, he said, would help the board identify centres that fail to meet expected standards and address shortcomings in service delivery.
Aina said the planned reforms formed part of JAMB’s broader strategy to improve candidates’ registration and examination experiences, eliminate avoidable errors, strengthen examination security and sustain public confidence in Nigeria’s tertiary education admission system.
