JAMB's Life Skills Proposal: What UTME Candidates Should Know

JAMB is considering whether to include life skills and critical thinking in the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME). The proposal is still under review. Candidates should look out for an official announcement before treating any change as final.

What is JAMB considering?

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has set up a committee to consider how skills such as reasoning and decision-making might be assessed. Its 21 September bulletin identifies the inauguration of a critical thinking committee. Reports of the event say the committee is considering whether skills could be assessed separately or within existing subjects.

Critical thinking means examining information and the reasons for a claim before reaching a decision. Life skills are practical abilities people use to deal with everyday situations, such as making decisions and solving problems. These descriptions explain the terms; they are not an official JAMB syllabus.

What has been decided?

The reports describe a review, not a final exam format. They do not establish when a change would start, how it would be scored, or what questions would look like. A committee's initial reporting deadline is not an exam start date.

What should candidates do now?

• Continue studying the subjects and topics in the official JAMB syllabus for your exam cycle.
• Practise explaining why an answer is correct, including why other answers do not fit.
• Check the JAMB bulletin page and other official JAMB announcements for any approved change.
• Be cautious about paying for material advertised as a confirmed new format before JAMB publishes the details.

A simple example of reasoning

Imagine a question says all the books in a box are blue, and a particular book is in that box. What can you conclude? From those statements, the book is blue. The answer follows from the information given. This is an illustration of reasoning, not a JAMB sample question or a prediction of its future format.

Keep preparing with the official material available for your exam cycle. If JAMB approves a change, check its announcement for the affected candidates, subjects and start date.

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