Getting it right in your university admission application in Nigeria through UTME

In the 2016/2017 university admission season the story went viral on the internet about a young lady who scored 320/400 in her UTME but failed to make the merit list to study Medicine and Surgery at Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife.

Her inability to make the merit list for medicine and surgery in OAU with her high UTME score can be understood when you consider the new JAMB admission rules where a candidate’s total score is an aggregate of their O-level results and their UTME score.

In the new JAMB admission rules released in 2016, O-level results are weighted to make up 40% of the total score while the UTME make up the remaining 60% of the total score. So, the young lady who scored 320/400 in her UTME was let down by her O-level aggregate score.

To make the merit list for Medicine and Surgery at the University of Lagos (Unilag) with 320/400 in 2016 a candidate would have required an O-level aggregate of 30/40. This can be interpreted as having an O-level result of 2 As, 2 Bs and 1 C in English Language, Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry and Physics at one sitting.

The new JAMB admission rules mean that O-level results have been given more importance. It implies that making the minimum credit pass in the required five subjects at one sitting my no longer suffice especially for highly competitive courses like Medicine and Surgery, Pharmacy, Dentistry, Engineering, Computer Science, Law, English Language, Mass Communication, Architecture, Accounting, Business Administration, and Economics. The candidate should aim for A1s in their O-levels to stand a better chance of gaining admission into a University in Nigeria.

Equally important is that applicants must have the proper subject combination in their O-levels and their UTME for a successful admission application. For instance, many applicants do not know that Further Mathematics is a requirement to study Engineering, Computer Science and Mathematics in most Nigerian universities, just as Literature in English is a requirement for Law, English Language, and Mass Communication.

Without the proper subject combination, even with high O-level and UTME scores, a school can deny admission to an applicant. Therefore, the application process is a very important one and parents, guardians, teachers and the candidates must have the right information to make good choices for the applicant.

When a course of study has been identified it is important that:

  1. The right O-level and UTME subject combination is selected;

  2. The candidate should know what O-level results they need for a successful application;

  3. The candidate should know what UTME score they need for their course;

  4. The candidate should know what school options are at their disposal and which ones would favour them more than others.

Finally, candidates, parents, guardians and teachers must be honest with the candidate and make realistic choices based on the ability and capability of the candidate. There are many courses and schools to choose from. A high cut-off mark is usually a function of the demand for the course.

University of Lagos comprehensive JAMB cut-off marks for 2016/2017 session

We have a database of University of Lagos (Unilag) cut-off marks from 2011 – 2016.

Knowledge of the cut-off marks of previous years informs you of what you need to score to be successful in your undergraduate admission quest into Unilag.

The cut-off marks for all departments are available at www.lagtutor.com/unilag_cutoffs.php.

You can filter by year, faculty or department.

SN Department Merit Ekiti Lagos Ogun Ondo Osun Oyo
1 Creative Arts 62.5 58.75 58.63 58.5 58.88 54.25 55.25
2 English 62.38 53.88 59 59.63 56.5 54 59
3 European Languages/French 62.75 0 0 61.25 0 62.25 0
4 European Languages/Russian 56.75 0 0 0 0 0 0
5 History & Strategic Studies 60.25 57.5 54 53.13 58.75 55.75 53.5
6 Linguistics/Igbo 59.88 58.75 59.25 53.75 0 55.13 54.5
7 Linguistics/Yoruba 59.88 58.75 59.25 53.75 0 55.13 54.5
8 Chinese 64.5 57.75 61.75 62.25 63.75 0 62.75
9 Philosophy 61 59.75 55.88 55.25 55 56.75 54.25
10 Accounting 72.5 68.38 70.5 71.13 69.88 69.75 71
11 Actuarial Science 64.25 62.38 62.5 61 63.63 55.5 56.5
12 Insurance 64.75 62.75 64.38 63.63 55.5 63 63.38
13 Business Administration 69.38 64.13 67.38 68.25 64 66.13 66.75
14 Finance 68.38 63.38 65 66.88 64.5 65.88 66.25
15 I.R.P.M 67.13 61.63 64.88 65 62.13 64.13 62
16 Adult 55.5 0 0 0 0 0 0
17 Economics Education 61.13 0 59.5 53.25 0 59.88 58
18 Business Education 67 62.5 64.13 64.25 61.25 64.63 64
19 Islamic Studies Education 51.13 0 0 0 0 0 0
20 Igbo Education 60.75 0 0 0 0 0 0
21 English Education 64.75 59.38 61.25 63.13 61.75 60.63 61
22 Early Childhood 65.25 52 62.25 63.5 56.38 56.25 61
23 Yoruba Education 57.75 0 0 0 0 0 0
24 Education French 62.88 0 0 0 0 0 0
25 History Education 55.63 0 0 0 0 0 0
26 C.R.S. 57 53.5 0 56.63 55.25 0 0
27 Education Geography 53.75 0 0 0 0 0 0
28 Education Administration 65 51.63 63.13 64 60 62.75 62.5
29 Educational Foundations 62.88 0 59.38 60 56.63 53.88 52.13
30 Human Kinetics 54.25 0 0 0 0 0 0
31 Biology 59 58 57.88 56 54 56.5 57.25
32 Chemistry 55.38 0 0 0 0 0 0
33 Home Economics Education 61.25 0 0 0 0 0 0
34 Integrated Science 53.75 0 0 0 0 0 0
35 Mathematics 55.75 0 0 0 0 0 0
36 Physics 54.25 0 0 0 0 0 0
37 Technology Education 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
38 Chemical 75 71.25 70 73.38 67.38 72 70.75
39 Civil 71.5 66.63 68.63 69 64.75 68.88 68
40 Computer 74.25 70.13 72 72 72.63 70 72.25
41 Electrical 75.13 64 70.25 73.75 69.75 70.13 71.88
42 Mechanical 74.5 69.5 71.75 71.63 69.63 71.25 71.5
43 Metallurgical & Materials 65.5 58.63 61.63 62.75 62.5 61.13 55.88
44 Petroleum & Gas 74.38 70.88 72.38 71.75 68.5 68.75 69.13
45 Surveying & Geoinfomatics 64.13 63.63 51.63 60.75 59.88 58.25 0
46 Systems 69.5 67.38 64 68.5 67.63 57.5 63.63
47 Architecture 72.88 68.88 69.5 71.25 69.88 67 69.63
48 Building 64 59.5 60.38 61.25 60.5 60.25 63
49 Estate Management 67 65 64 65.38 62.63 64.75 65
50 Quantity Surveying 66 60.88 62.75 63.13 61 61.13 58.88
51 Urban Regional Planning 64.63 58.25 62.38 62.63 56.63 62.13 59.5
52 Law 70.75 63.25 67.75 69.25 67.5 68.25 67.5
53 Nursing 72.25 71.13 71.5 71.75 72.13 71.25 71.63
54 MBBS 79.38 75.75 76.38 76.75 77.38 77 77.38
55 Physiotherapy 70.88 69.38 70.25 69.63 68.38 70 69.13
56 Radiography 70.25 69.88 67.38 67.5 69.75 69.38 70.13
57 Medical Laboratory Science 70.63 67.88 68.75 68.63 67 70.13 67.38
58 Pharmacology 68.25 65.63 65 66.63 65.5 66.38 66.5
59 Physiology 68.13 66.63 66.5 65.38 67.38 67.75 64.75
60 Dentistry 72.75 63.5 70 69.38 69.25 71.5 71
61 Pharmacy 73.63 71.63 68.88 71.38 69 70.5 69.88
62 Biochemistry 68.13 62.75 65.5 66.88 66.38 64.63 65.38
63 Botany 55.63 0 0 54.38 0 52.38 55.13
64 Cell Biology 65 57 62.63 61.13 58.13 61.5 56.75
65 Chemistry 64.5 54.25 60.25 63.75 55.13 59.63 63.13
66 Computer 71.38 68.75 70 68.5 66.63 69.88 67.75
67 Geology 65.25 0 61.5 63 60.5 64.5 61.25
68 Marine Science 65.38 60.38 62 60.13 58.63 61.5 62.88
69 Fisheries 59 0 0 0 0 0 0
70 Mathematics 65.25 58.25 60.5 63.63 54.38 59.5 52.88
71 Microbiology 68.88 64 66.5 67.25 67.13 63.63 67.13
72 Physics 53.5 0 0 0 0 0 0
73 Zoology 55 0 0 0 0 0 0
74 Geophysics 66.38 62.13 58.38 61.5 59 61.75 65.25
75 Economics 70.5 64.5 67.88 68 65.38 64.75 64
76 Geography 58 52.5 54.75 53.5 55.75 55.88 55.75
77 Mass Communication 70 65.63 67.88 69 66.25 65.88 67.5
78 Political Science 64.75 60.25 63.13 63 60.75 61.75 60.63
79 Psychology 66.5 63.88 64.5 65.25 63.88 62 63.75
80 Social Work 65.75 56.5 62.5 65 60 63.75 0
81 Sociology 66.5 62.63 64.63 65.38 64.13 63 63.5

*Please note that a cut-off value of 0 means that the score was not made available.