Over 260,000 candidates are currently sitting for the 2024 mock Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) across 793 Computer-Based Test (CBT) centres nationwide.

The Registrar of Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, made the disclosure after monitoring the mock examination in some centres in Abuja on Thursday, March 7, 2024.

Oloyede said the examination which was to test the preparedness of JAMB and candidates for the main UTME scheduled to commence on Friday, April 19, 2024, was progressing seamlessly, except for few incidents recorded in about four centres which, he said, would be resolved.

While noting that results for the mock UTME would be released on Thursday (today) evening or tomorrow (Friday), Oloyede disclosed that the Board successfully conducted recruitment examination for the Police Service Commission (PSC) on Wednesday.

He said: “So far so good, we are doing mock after mock. Just yesterday, we conducted recruitment for the Police Service Commission throughout the country; that was a mock before today’s mock and that was in 411 centres across the country, and today we are conducting our own mock in 793 centres across the country.

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“So far, we have about three or four places where they have one issue or the other, but we are trying to get over that. So, it is a good one, even those three (where there are issues), we will have a way of accommodating them even if they go down completely. But everything is going on well and the reports we have is that we are very okay.

“Over 260,000 candidates are sitting for the (mock) exam but the real exam we have 1.98 million because we don’t want to turn our mock to another exam that is why we did not allow more than that number to register for the mock exam, which is just to test the system.”

On the readiness for the main UTME, Oloyede said JAMB was fully prepared for the smooth conduct of the examination, adding that new mechanisms would also be deployed to further fortify the exercise system.

“We are adequately ready for the exam. Today is a very special day for us. We know we are doing some internal revolution this year which we were apprehensive of the workability. We can now say we have arrived, what we said to ourselves about six, seven years ago, we have been able to achieve it today,” the JAMB boss said.

The Star