The Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has explained why some candidates with high UTME Scores are being denied admission. The board has also released the admission guidelines for 2022.

The figure is based on the admission statistics prepared by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board for the period under review. It is a widely held belief that candidates who score higher marks have advantages over those with poor UTME scores. But according to statistics obtained by The Punch, a total of 715 candidates scored 300 and above in the 2021 examinations. Out of the 715, JAMB noted that only 590 were admitted, while out of the 125 they were denied admissions.

Explaining why those students weren’t admitted, JAMB gave these reasons: Candidates chose the wrong UTME Subject Combination Some candidates did not upload their O’Level results on CAPS. The board also revealed that “No Mathematics in UTME combination disadvantages Medicine candidates” as they weren’t able to get admitted into another course. On the other hand, “English & Literature in UTME combination helped law candidates” get admitted into English, Mass Communication, etc.

Meanwhile, JAMB on Saturday published some of the guidelines for the 2022/2023 admissions. The admission guidelines partly read, “Every institution is at liberty to determine the minimum UTME score acceptable to it for admission. “Similarly, for DE, each institution will determine the number of points required by it for direct entry admission. Nevertheless, no institution can recommend or admit any candidate with less than two points for direct entry.

“No institution will be allowed to recommend or admit any candidate whose UTME score is below the threshold of 140 and 100 for Degree and ND/NCE, respectively. “No institution is allowed to recommend or admit any candidate whose total score is below the minimum score proposed by the Institution and approved by the Policy Meeting. The totality of all scores being used for the ranking of the candidate shall be taken into account in determining the percentage minimum score”