Mock-UTME: Diesel price, others force JAMB to increase service charge

The Joint Admissions and Matriculations Board (JAMB) has announced an increase in the service charge for this year’s mock Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).

Less than a week to the optional examination, the board disclosed that the service charge has been increased by N400.

It stated that while the examination would be conducted freely at its centres, JAMB said candidates willing to take part would have to pay N1,000 to their Computer-Based Test (CBT) centres as a service charge.

It explained that the mock examination was introduced to give candidates the opportunity to familiarise themselves with the CBT environment.

“The candidates who indicated their interest to take the examination are to pay the N1,000 at their respective centres for the use of the private facilities deployed for the examination,” the board said in its weekly bulletin.

“However, candidates assigned to JAMB owned centres would not be required to pay for the use of the centres.

“Much as the Board would like to keep the cost at a minimum, the prevailing high cost of diesel and other consumables has necessitated the increase from N600 to N1,000 to enable the CBT centres to provide the needed infrastructure, as partners of the Board, to host the examination which is scheduled to hold on Saturday, 9th April 2022.

“The Board has thought through this increase and resolved that instead of cancelling the mock-UTME, which introduction has improved candidates’ confidence in sitting the examination owing to the high cost of diesel, it is better to increase the service charge to make the exercise worthwhile to participating centres.”

JAMB also asked candidates who have registered for the 2022 UTME exercise and had indicated interest to sit the Mock-UTME to proceed to print their mock examination notification slip.

This, according to it, indicates the centre they have been assigned to take the examination.

“The slip can be printed anywhere at the candidates’ convenience by visiting https://www.jamb.gov.ng.

“The notification slip contains the venue (centre) the candidates would sit for the examination, the time and date of the examination and other necessary instructions,” it added.