Last updated on April 7th, 2025 at 12:26 pm
The Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) is a body that conducts both the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) and Direct Entry (DE) admission into tertiary institutions in Nigeria. When students are to register for JAMB, they can either pick UTME or DE.
Those who did UTME will be offered admission into 100 level in their choice of institution, while those who did DE will be offered admission into 200 level in their choice of institution. However, I find out that most Direct Entry (DE) candidates are wondering if they will still write the UTME and post-UTME exams, which are supposed to be meant for UTME candidates.
Well, in today’s article, I will be clearing the air by providing a satisfactory answer to the question, “Will direct entry candidates write UTME and Post-UTME?”. And by the end of this article, you will know if DE candidates are meant to write UTME and post-UTME. To make things understandable, I will be starting from UTME before proceeding to post-UTME.
Will Direct Entry Candidates Write UTME?
No, DE candidates will not write UTME. UTME is an exam set by JAMB to test the capability of only students who picked UTME during their JAMB registration. Which means that only UTME candidates are meant to write the exam and not DE candidates. Now about post-UTME? Let’s find out.
Will direct entry candidates write post-UTME?
No, DE candidates do not write post-UTME except for a few institutions that conduct post-UTME exams for their Direct Entry applicants (e.g., UNILORIN). Normally, direct entry students do a special screening even if the institution conducts post-UTME exams.
That’s how it’s done in most institutions, including those that do post-UTME, except for a few like UNILORIN. So if the institution you are aspiring for conducts post-UTME, kindly do your research to know if they will also be conducting post-UTME for their Direct Entry applicants too.
What Exam Will Direct Entry Candidates Write?
The only exam Direct Entry candidates will write is the A’Level (JUPEB, IJMB, or Cambridge’ A’Level) exam, which is only for those with the intention of using A’Level for their Direct Entry registration. This simply means that those who will be using HND/OND/NCE aren’t writing any exam.
But this is only so for 2025 direct entry because from next year, 2026, direct entry candidates will be writing an aptitude test that will be conducted by JAMB. There was a time JAMB made it known to the public that they would start conducting an aptitude test for all Direct Entry candidates.
According to JAMB, this test was meant to test the cognitive skills of DE candidates, and it wouldn’t be the usual Mathematics, English, Physics, Government, Biology, and more. This new development was supposed to take effect in 2024, but JAMB cancelled it for both 2024 and 2025 Direct Entry.
So definitely, 2026 Direct Entry candidates will be the first to test the new development by doing the aptitude test that will be conducted by JAMB unless they decide to cancel it again.
In conclusion, Direct Entry candidates neither write UTME nor Post UTME (except for some institutions as explained earlier). Rather, they write the A’Level exam (JUPEB, IJMB, or Cambridge A’Level), which is for those who will be using A’Level rather than HND/OND/NCE. That will be all for now. Thanks for reading this article.
