Differences in JAMB, School and Post UTME Cut-Off Marks - SCHOOLCONTENTS.info

Differences in JAMB, School and Post UTME Cut-Off Marks

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To be eligible for admission into Nigerian tertiary institutions, candidates must meet the JAMB cut-off mark set by the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board, as well as the individual cut-off marks set by the specific institutions, and finally, achieve the required post-UTME cut-off marks determined by the institutions after their screening processes.

Generally, candidates want to know what a university's, polytechnic's, or college's cut-off mark is before choosing it during the JAMB registration. And if you're not inquisitive at this stage, as soon as JAMB announced the national cut-off mark, you may want to check your own schools' post-UTME cut-off marks. This, you have to wait for, until those schools start selling their entry forms.

Whereas, a few students that meet the JAMB cut-off mark will conclude that their admissions are certain for the year - not knowing that there is more to know.

This post is aimed to show you what it takes to be offered admissions as far as the cut-off mark is concerned. Meeting the JAMB cut-off mark is not even half the journey, it's just the beginning!

JAMB's and Schools' Cut-Off Marks are Not the Same

This may sound confusing. I will explain.

JAMB cut-off marks are the score range determined and recommended by the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board for institutions - Universities, Polytechnics, Colleges of Education, and Innovation Enterprise Institutions (IEIs) to accept while admitting their prospective candidates. These marks are usually over the 400 total scores expected from the UTME. The cut-off mark is usually unanimously concluded to, by the board and other education stakeholders.

The caption below summarized what the stakeholders deciding the JAMB cut-off mark looks like.


The Board also announced that its .... Policy Meeting will hold on ...., which will be, expectedly, chaired by the Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, with no fewer than 4,000 heads of tertiary Institutions comprising degree, diploma, NCE, and NID-awarding institutions and other stakeholders in attendance.

In short, JAMB (Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board) Cut-Off Mark is the minimum score that a candidate must obtain in the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) to be eligible for admission into any Nigerian tertiary institution. The JAMB Cut-Off Mark is usually determined by JAMB and is the same for all institutions across the country. 

Whereas the school cut-off mark can be different from what could be concluded by the board and the stakeholders. Hence ...

A school cut-off mark is the total score range a university, polytechnic, college of education, or innovation enterprise institution requires prospective admission seekers to have in UTME to be able to participate in its post-UTME or screening exercise

A school cut-off mark is not necessarily what the school needs to offer you admission. Instead, the mark will only give you a chance to register for the school's post-UTME or partake in the screening.

In short, the School Cut-Off Mark is the minimum score set by an individual tertiary institution for admission into their institution. It is usually higher than the JAMB Cut-Off Mark and is determined by the institution's management. The School Cut-Off Mark is often influenced by factors such as the institution's capacity, the number of applicants, and the competitiveness of the course.

There is another cut-off mark called the post-UTME cut-off mark!

Post UTME cut-off marks are the real score in the school's entrance exams or screening points that candidates will be admitted with. For some schools, it starts from an average mark of 50% to 100% e.g. UNILORIN, OAU, UI, etc.

For some, each department will decide its post-UTME cut-off mark before you can qualify for its course. For example, If the Accounting department asks for a 70% post-UTME cut-off mark, Banking and Finance may ask for 55% e.g. UNIOSUN, Federal Polytechnic Ede, etc.

In short, Post-UTME (Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination) Cut-Off Mark is the minimum score that a candidate must obtain in the post-UTME screening exercise conducted by individual tertiary institutions. The Post-UTME Cut-Off Mark is usually higher than both the JAMB Cut-Off Mark and the School Cut-Off Mark and is determined by the institution's management. The Post-UTME Cut-Off Mark is used in combination with the JAMB and School Cut-Off Marks to determine which candidates are offered admission into the institution.

Students Face the Three Cut-Off Marks During Admission Pursuit

1. The JAMB cut-off mark is not widely accepted by all institutions

As already noted, the board only recommends certain scores for the institutions - not a compulsion. Hence, each school is left with the choice of whether to accept that.

For instance, during the stakeholders' meeting, JAMB and other attendees may conclude as we have in the previous years, that 140 and above is the national minimum benchmark for admission into public universities, and private universities, 100 for public and private polytechnics and colleges of education.

In other words, they can accept more than but never less than (≥)

These cut-off marks recommended by JAMB usually confuse candidates. They mistake it for what all schools must accept or use for admission. No!

2. School's Cut-Off Mark as earlier pointed out is different 

  1. It can be the same as what JAMB draws
  2. It can be a bit higher than what JAMB draws
  3. But never lower than what JAMB draws

For instance, even though JAMB announced (for 2024/2025) 140 and above for universities, the University of Ibadan, University of Benin, University of Lagos, etc. drew 200 and above for their candidates.

Some universities such as Abia State University, Tai Solarin University of Education, etc. considered exactly 160 that JAMB announced (in recent years) while a few universities such as Osun State University, Ladoke Akintola University, Federal University Oye Ekiti, etc. accept the announced JAMB cut off mark for a few courses and 200 or above for others.

Certain polytechnics such as Oke Ogun Polytechnic, Federal College of Agriculture Moor Plantation Ibadan, Osun State Polytechnic, etc. accepted the national cut-off mark of 120 or above while Federal Polytechnic Ede, Federal Polytechnic Offa, Federal Polytechnic Bida drew 140, 150, and 140 respectively.

And we still have a few polytechnics that drew cut-off marks depending on the proposed course e.g. The Polytechnic Ibadan which is notoriously known for drawing 200 or above for certain courses and above 150 for others. The polytechnic only uses the JAMB score to offer admission without further screening except for online registration. This could be the reason their departmental cut-off marks are higher.

3. Post-UTME cut-off mark, likewise, is different from the school pre-entrance cut-off mark

As said above, it's the final cut-off mark used to admit candidates. These are usually called departmental cut-off marks.

After the school has completed post-UTME tests or screening online or physically, they draw points usually in percentage to decide your fate of admission into the department proposed. 

Unfortunately, some universities may not make the cut-off marks public. For instance, the University of Ilorin, Ahmadu Bello University, Osun State University, Federal University Oye Ekiti, Federal Polytechnic Offa, Kwara State Polytechnic, Osun State Polytechnic Iree, Osun State Polytechnic Esa-Oke, etc. won't make their cut-off marks public after the Post UTME/screening exercise. If you see any, it may be proposed or some rumors.

Whereas, some universities will be open about the final cut-off marks for admission. For example, the University of Ibadan, Lago State University, the University of Benin, Sokoto State University, Federal Polytechnic Ede, etc. usually announce their post-UTME or final cut-off marks. 

Conclusion

I'm sorry to inform you that you don't need to rejoice yet when JAMB announces the national cut-off marks as these may not be accepted or used by your proposed institutions. It's safe to say, you should check what your school drew in the last admission year to judge for this year. 

In most cases, they don't change the cut-off marks too often. You can search this blog for the post-UTME forms of any school to see if I've posted them.

Hence, you should be aware that, even if you meet the JAMB cut-off mark, there's still more before being offered admission. You'll have to satisfy the school and post-UTME cut-off marks too. And in fact, other factors as detailed in this post should be looked into, before your admission can be 100% sure.

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13 comments:

  1. What about Port-harcourt polytechnic departmental cut off mark for engineering

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't have this update yet. Kindly visit the school portal to check.

      Delete
  2. If I have 215 can I study law in unn

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You can be lucky with the score. But, it's of low side.

      Delete
  3. If I have 256 can I study law at NDU?

    ReplyDelete
  4. If I have 235 can I study business administration in LASU?

    ReplyDelete
  5. I scored 185 in jamb, can I study architecture in futo

    ReplyDelete
  6. I have 232 in my jamb , can I study medical biochemistry in uniuyo

    ReplyDelete
  7. If I have 230 in post utme can I study political science in funai

    ReplyDelete
  8. I score 156 can i study slt in ibarapapoly

    ReplyDelete

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