The Federal Government has directed the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and the National Examinations Council (NECO) to adopt full Computer-Based Testing (CBT) for all their examinations by 2026.
The announcement was made by the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, while inspecting ongoing Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) activities alongside officials of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) in Bwari, Abuja, on Monday.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), more than 2 million candidates registered for the ongoing UTME examinations taking place at over 800 centres across the country.
Dr. Alausa noted that starting from November this year, WAEC and NECO would begin using CBT for their objective exam sections. He added that both objective and essay parts would be fully conducted via CBT by May/June 2026.
”If JAMB can successfully conduct CBT exams for more than 2.2 million candidates, WAEC and NECO can do the same.
“We are going to get WAEC and NECO to also start their objective exam on CBT.
“By 2026 exams which will come up in May/June, both the objectives and the essay will be fully on CBT. That is how we can eliminate exam malpractices,” he said.
The Minister also noted that a committee has been set up to review examination standards across the country. The committee is expected to submit its recommendations next month.
Meanwhile, JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, spoke about the exam schedule and clarified that UTME sessions have always started at 8:00 a.m. He explained that candidates are required to arrive by 6:30 a.m. to allow enough time for accreditation before the exams begin.
He dismissed concerns from some candidates about early reporting times, stating that the process is important for proper screening.
“We have always started our exams at 8 o’clock. The first session is 8 o’clock, second session 10:30, third session, 1 p.m, and fourth session 3:30p.m,” Oloyede said.
The registrar also addressed complaints that candidates were being sent to centres they did not choose. He noted that investigations found no evidence of such issues.
Oloyede shared that over 1.6 million candidates out of the 2.03 million registered had completed their exams, leaving around 50,000 yet to finish.
He further revealed that over 40 candidates had been arrested for various forms of malpractice, such as impersonation and attempting to sneak out exam questions using hidden cameras.
Additionally, he said that more than 41,000 of the registered candidates were underage.
