The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) is considering plans to introduce life skills and critical thinking assessment into the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), in a proposed reform aimed at broadening how candidates’ abilities are evaluated.
JAMB Registrar, Professor Segun Aina, disclosed the proposal on Wednesday, October 21, 2026, explaining that the initiative is intended to help assess candidates beyond their knowledge of conventional academic subjects.
According to Aina, the proposed assessment could provide a more comprehensive understanding of candidates’ reasoning abilities, decision-making skills and capacity to apply knowledge to practical situations.
The development comes amid continuing discussions about the relevance of Nigeria’s tertiary education admission process and the skills students need to succeed in higher education and the workplace.
Aina explained that a candidate’s UTME score should not necessarily be interpreted as an absolute measure of intelligence or knowledge. Rather, the score is used to rank candidates relative to others taking the examination within the same assessment cycle.
He noted that the relationship between candidates’ scores and their relative performance is important when interpreting examination results and determining admission prospects.
The proposed inclusion of life skills and critical thinking would therefore represent an effort to explore additional ways of identifying candidates whose abilities align with the demands of their chosen courses.
The board has already established a committee of education stakeholders and experts to examine the proposed framework and recommend how the skills could be assessed.
Among the issues to be considered is whether life skills and critical thinking should be introduced as separate components of the examination or incorporated into existing UTME subjects.
The committee is also expected to consider how any new assessment could be implemented reliably and whether it would improve candidate selection and educational outcomes.
JAMB has not announced a final implementation date or confirmed the precise format of the proposed assessment. The plan remains under consideration, pending the outcome of the review process.
If adopted, the proposal could have implications for prospective university, polytechnic and college of education applicants, as well as schools and teachers preparing students for the examination.
However, the effectiveness of any reform will depend on clear guidelines, appropriate preparation materials and a transparent assessment framework that allows candidates from different educational backgrounds to compete fairly.
For now, candidates should continue to prepare for the existing UTME requirements while following official JAMB announcements for updates on any approved changes.