How JAMB Post-UTME and University Screening Works
By Muntasir Minhaz • Published Oct 18, 2025 • Africa Admissions & Exams
After JAMB UTME, most Nigerian universities run their own post-UTME screening, then combine your UTME score with your post-UTME and sometimes O'Level results using a formula that differs by school. There is no single national formula, so check your target university's own screening page.
🎓 Post-UTME can be a written test, an interview, or just document screening.
Common formula: (UTME score ÷ 8) + (post-UTME score ÷ 2).
Some universities also weigh in your O'Level result, not just UTME and post-UTME.
University of Calabar averages UTME and post-UTME scores equally.
Cut-off marks and formulas change every admission cycle, so recheck yearly.
What Post-UTME Screening Is
After JAMB releases UTME results, individual Nigerian universities run their own second stage of screening for candidates who chose them as first or second choice and cleared JAMB's minimum cut-off mark. This stage goes by different names: post-UTME, departmental screening, or simply a screening exercise. Some universities set a short written test, others hold an interview, and a growing number only verify documents without a written exam.
You register for post-UTME separately from JAMB, directly through the university's own admissions portal, and you pay a separate screening fee that the university sets.
Why There Is No Single Formula
Each Nigerian university decides its own method for combining your UTME score with your post-UTME result, and sometimes your O'Level grades, into one aggregate score used to rank candidates. The National Universities Commission does not enforce a single national formula, so the weight given to each component differs from school to school.
Common Aggregate Score Formulas
A widely used approach scales your UTME score down and your post-UTME score down separately, then adds them together, for example (UTME score ÷ 8) + (post-UTME score ÷ 2). Other universities use a simple average of the two scores. The University of Calabar, for instance, calculates its aggregate by adding the UTME and post-UTME scores and dividing by two, according to Nigeria Education News .
Other schools bring O'Level results into the mix, splitting the aggregate across three components: UTME, post-UTME, and O'Level grades, with each given a fixed percentage weight that adds up to 100%. The exact split, and whether O'Level counts at all, depends entirely on the university.
How to Find Your University's Formula
Check the admissions or post-UTME page on your target university's official website.
Look for the specific admission cycle, since formulas and cut-off marks change most years.
Contact the admissions office directly if the formula is not published, rather than relying on forum posts or social media.
Confirm whether your course has a higher departmental cut-off than the university's general cut-off mark.
Preparing for Post-UTME
Where a university sets a written post-UTME test, questions usually mirror the JAMB syllabus for your chosen subjects, so materials you used for UTME preparation stay useful. Where the process is document-only, focus on getting your O'Level results, birth certificate, local government identification, and passport photographs ready ahead of the screening window, since missing documents can disqualify an otherwise qualified candidate.
Admission List and Waiting
Universities publish admission lists in batches after screening closes, ranking candidates by aggregate score within each course until available slots fill up. If you do not make the first list, you may still get a spot on a supplementary list if higher-ranked candidates fail to accept their offer or complete registration in time. Check your JAMB CAPS (Central Admissions Processing System) status regularly, since this is where your university confirms admission before you proceed with registration.