JAMB denies hike in UTME registration fee

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has declared that there is no increase in the registration fee for its Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) for 2024, contrary to reports.

The board said the cost of purchasing the UTME form remained N3,500 despite an increase in its cost of production.

JAMB’s public communication advisor, Fabian Benjamin in a statement on Wednesday, said the cost of the Board examination fee remained low to ensure that candidates are not overburdened.

The statement reads: “The attention of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has been drawn to several publications in recent times insinuating that the Board has increased its examination registration fee.

“This is far from the truth as the cost of obtaining the Board’s UTME application documents remains N3,500, which has been the cost of its application documents since it was brought down from N5,000 in 2018. Therefore, the Board wishes to state that the cost of the application document price has not been increased in spite of the prevailing economic reality in the country which has also affected the cost of the Board’s operations.

“Consequently, the Board wishes to assure the general public that the Board has been doing all within its powers to ensure that candidates are not overburdened in any way.

“One of these measures is to deliberately keep cost low hence its decision to make available its Use of English reading text free of charge through a QR code to ensure that the increase in cost of production is not passed to candidates. Therefore, all UTME candidates would access the reading text free of charge through multiple channels, which include their profiles, e-mail addresses, notification slips and the Board’s website.

“It is, however, pertinent to state the fact that what is being perceived in some quarters as an increment in its fees is nothing other than the fallout of its cashless policy through which all fees payable by candidates to CBT centres have been consolidated and are paid along with their application fees to prevent their wanton exploitation by unscrupulous centre owners.

“These fees are in turn remitted to partnering centres every week. For instance, candidates are expected to pay N700 for registration, N1500 as examination fees, and N1500 for the optional Mock-UTME at privately – owned centres.

“For the avoidance of doubt, the 2024 UTME/DE e-PIN remains N3500. The registration fee of N700, which is to be paid to CBT centres by candidates, is now to be collected by the Board along with N1500, which is the cost of setting the main UTME, and N1500 as the cost of the optional Mock-UTME etc is to be collected by the Board on behalf of the CBT centres.”