Differences between JAMB, school and Post UTME cut off marks

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, 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.

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 innovative 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.

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 point 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.

Students Face the Three Cut-Off Marks During Admission Pursuit

1. 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 whether to accept that or not.

For instance, during the stakeholders’ meeting, JAMB and other attendees may conclude as we have in the previous years, that 160 and above is the national minimum benchmark for admission into public universities, 140 for private universities, 120 for public polytechnics and colleges of education, and 110 for 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

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

For instance, even though JAMB announced (for 2019/2020) 160 and above for universities, the University of Ibadan, University of Benini, Universversity of Lagos, etc drew 200 and above for their candidates.

Some universities such as Abia State University, Tai Solarin Univerity 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 the online registration. This could be the reason their departmental cut-off marks are higher.

3. Post-UTME cut-off mark, likewise, is different from school pre-entrance cut-off mark.
As said above, it’s the final cut-off mark to admit candidates with. These are usually called departmental cut-off marks.

After the school must have 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, the cut-off marks may not be made public by some universities. 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, Univerity of Benin, Sokoto State University, Federal Polytechnic Ede, etc usually announce their post UTME or final cut-off marks.

Oroginally published by schoolcontents.info

Treasure Orokpo

A multi-talented individual with a passion for diverse fields, Treasure Orokpo is a trained journalist, skilled cook, and AI enthusiast. When she's not uncovering the latest stories, you can find her whipping up culinary creations in the kitchen and entertainment.