JAMB UTME common mistakes
JAMB UTME · Understand the traps and how to avoid them.
Answering Use of English comprehension passages by matching words that appear in the passage to the options, without checking what the question actually asks (e.g., picking a stated detail when the question asks for an inference or the writer's attitude).
Under time pressure candidates scan for familiar vocabulary and stop at the first option containing a passage word; JAMB comprehension items deliberately include distractors built from verbatim passage wording.
What to do instead
Read the question stem before the options, underline the task word (infer, implies, attitude, main idea, except), then locate the relevant sentence and test each option against it. Practise with past-style passages and mark which option is a 'word-match trap' versus a real paraphrase.
Treating the Use of English 'lexis and structure' section as general knowledge: choosing the option that 'sounds right' in ordinary speech rather than the grammatically correct one for concord, tense sequence, and preposition collocation.
Nigerian English usage and everyday spoken patterns differ from the formal register JAMB tests, so colloquial forms feel correct; candidates also skip learning rules like subject-verb agreement with collective nouns and 'neither...nor'.
What to do instead
Work through a rule checklist (concord, tense, conditionals, prepositions, phrasal verbs, idioms) and do 20 targeted items per rule, writing the rule beside each wrong answer. Keep an error log of collocations you missed and review it weekly.
Spending so long on one Use of English passage or on an essay-style question that later, easier sections (synonyms/antonyms, oral forms) are rushed or left blank.
The paper mixes sections of very different difficulty and candidates have no per-section time budget; anxiety about the first passage leads to over-investment.
What to do instead
Before the exam, set a timed allocation per section (e.g., passages, then lexis/structure, then oral English) and rehearse full timed papers. In the hall, if an item takes more than about a minute, mark it, move on, and return at the end.
In oral English items, choosing answers based on spelling rather than sound, e.g., misidentifying the stressed syllable, the odd-sounding vowel, or the silent letter in words like 'comfortable', 'photograph/photography', or 'colonel'.
Candidates learn these words in writing and rarely say them aloud; stress-shift and silent-letter rules are not intuitive from spelling.
What to do instead
Build a spoken word list: say each tested word aloud, mark the primary stress, and group words by stress pattern (PHOtograph vs phoTOgraphy). Use a dictionary with audio for every new word and drill 10 minutes daily on stress, vowel sounds, and silent letters.
In the chosen subject combination, memorising past questions and answers instead of understanding the underlying principle, so a reworded or numerically altered question is missed.
Past-question compilations are widely sold and create a false sense of coverage; JAMB reuses topics but changes numbers, contexts, and wording.
What to do instead
For every past question, write the principle being tested and solve a variant with changed values or a different scenario. Use past questions as a diagnostic after studying a topic, not as the primary study material.
Ignoring the syllabus and studying only familiar or 'popular' topics, leaving whole syllabus areas untouched in each subject (e.g., genetics and ecology in Biology, electrochemistry in Chemistry, vectors and statistics in Mathematics).
Candidates rely on what teachers emphasised or what appeared last year, and avoid topics they find hard; the JAMB syllabus is broad and questions are spread across it.
What to do instead
Download the official JAMB syllabus for each subject, tick every topic as you cover it, and schedule the avoided topics first. Track coverage by syllabus topic, not by number of hours studied.
In calculation-based subjects, working entirely in the head or on scrap paper without writing units and intermediate steps, then choosing an option that matches a mis-keyed or unit-mismatched result.
Multiple-choice options usually include the answers produced by common errors (forgotten conversion, wrong formula rearrangement), and candidates cannot trace where they went wrong without written steps.
What to do instead
Write every step, carry units through the calculation, and check the answer's magnitude and unit before selecting an option. For each wrong option, identify which error produces it, so you learn to recognise and avoid that trap.
Choosing the subject combination for the intended course without checking the current JAMB/UTME brochure and the university's specific requirements, then discovering at registration or admission that a required subject is missing.
Requirements vary by course and institution and are updated periodically; candidates rely on what seniors or social media say rather than the official brochure.
What to do instead
Check the current JAMB brochure and the target institution's prospectus for the exact four subjects for the course, confirm O'Level subject requirements, and verify with the school's admissions office before finalising registration.
Mis-managing the computer-based test interface: not using the 'next'/'previous' navigation to review flagged questions, running out of time on one subject, or failing to confirm submission.
Candidates practise on paper and meet the CBT interface for the first time in the hall; the four subjects are answered in one timed session, so poor pacing in the first subject costs marks in later ones.
What to do instead
Practise on a CBT simulator with the real timing and four-subject structure, rehearse flagging and reviewing, and set a per-subject time budget. Do at least three full mock CBTs before the exam and confirm your submission on screen.
Guessing on items that carry negative-marking-like risk or leaving blanks where no penalty applies, without a strategy: either skipping many answerable questions or filling random options without eliminating any.
Candidates are unsure whether guessing is penalised and lack a rule for when to guess; panic near the end leads to random selection.
What to do instead
Confirm the marking rule for the exam (JAMB UTME does not deduct marks for wrong answers), so never leave an item blank. Use elimination: cross out options that contradict the stem, then choose among the remainder, and reserve the last minutes for flagged items.