According to JAMB, over 260,000 candidates take the 2024 mock-UTME.

On Thursday, more than 260,000 candidates took the mock UTM exam, which is being held this year at 793 computer-based test centers nationwide.

This was revealed by JAMB Registrar Professor Ishaq Oloyede following his observation of a few of the Abuja centers.

Oloyede, who expressed happiness over the exercise’s flawless execution across the country, explained that the exam’s purpose was to gauge candidates’ readiness for the main UTME, which is scheduled to start on Friday, April 19, 2024.

In addition to successfully conducting a recruitment exam for the Nigerian Police on Wednesday, he disclosed that the few incidents reported in the Mock UTME that occurred in around four centers would be handled.

“So far, so good. We are conducting mock after mock. We conducted recruitment for the Police Service Commission nationwide yesterday; that was a practice run before today’s mock, held in 411 locations nationwide. Today, we are holding our own mock at 793 locations nationwide.

We are working to resolve the roughly three or four locations where they now have problems. It is a good one, then, since even with those three (where there are problems), we will be able to accommodate them in the worst-case scenario when they fully collapse. However, everything is moving smoothly, and from the reports we have, we seem to be doing fine,” he remarked.

Speaking further, the head of JAMB stated that approximately 260,000 of the 1.98 million applicants who registered for the primary 2024 UTME also sat the mock exam.

“More than 260,000 candidates are sitting for the (mock) exam, but there are 1.98 million candidates for the real exam. This is because we didn’t want to turn our mock exam into another exam, so we only allowed that many candidates to register for the mock exam, which is only meant to test the system.”

Regarding JAMB’s preparedness for the main UTME, Oloyede stated that the organization was ready for a seamless exam administration, while also disclosing that additional measures will be implemented to strengthen the exam system even further.

“Today is an extremely momentous day for us. We are more than prepared for the exam. We were concerned about the viability of the internal revolution we are undertaking this year.

It’s safe to say that we’ve arrived. We have succeeded in doing today what we set out to do around six or seven years ago,” he remarked.

According to Oloyede, the Mock UTME results would be announced either tomorrow (Friday) or on Thursday night.

Damilola Bamiro, a JAMB information and communications technology consultant, had earlier stated that the exam body was completely in contact with every center taking part in the exam via the JAMB Situation Room.

He claimed that in order to quickly address any issues that may arise during the exam, the Situation Room enables real-time communication between the centers and JAMB.

According to the original release, the 2024 UTME will start on April 19, 2024, and end on April 29, 2024.