2027 Exam Timetable: UTME in March and NECO Before WAEC Under FG’s Proposed Dates

The proposed 2027 exam timetable from the Federal Ministry of Education puts the JAMB UTME on March 15 to 25, 2027, moves the NECO SSCE ahead of WAEC to run from April 1 to May 14, and schedules the WASSCE from May 11 to June 18. The dates come from a communique issued after a September 30 meeting chaired by the Minister of State for Education, Prof. Suwaiba Said Ahmad, with the examination bodies and private school representatives.

These are proposals for now. The communique says the dates remain “subject to confirmation by the respective examination bodies”, so JAMB, NECO and WAEC still have to announce their own timetables. If you’re in SS3 this session, though, this is the clearest early picture you’ll get of how your final year will be shaped, and it’s worth planning your revision around it.

Why the 2027 exam timetable puts NECO before WAEC

The harmonisation came after the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools raised concerns about the 2026 WASSCE, including results patterns, outstanding results and how transparent the process was. A committee was set up to stop the exams from colliding and to get results out early enough for admissions, which is why both NECO and WAEC results are now pencilled in for August 2027.

For you, the practical change is that NECO would no longer be the exam you write after WAEC is over. With NECO starting on April 1, just a week after the UTME window closes, and WAEC overlapping NECO for its first few days from May 11, candidates who sit both exams will have a long, unbroken stretch from March to June. If you’re registering for both, plan your revision as one season rather than two separate exams.

UTME candidates get an earlier finish

A March 15 to 25 window would put the UTME before both school exams, so you’d know your JAMB score before writing NECO or WAEC. JAMB has already announced other changes for the 2027 exam, including new critical thinking and life skills questions and a later start time, which we covered in our guide to UTME 2027 changes. Registration dates for the UTME haven’t been announced yet, and the communique says registration and some results dates “will be communicated in due course.”

The December 11 deadline schools can’t ignore

The part of the communique with the biggest consequences may be the teacher licensing rule. Any school that wants to serve as an exam centre must have at least 75 per cent of its teachers licensed by the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) by December 11, 2026. The ministry says it will verify compliance, and schools that fall short “will not be approved to serve as examination centres” for any of the national exams.

If you’re a parent with a child in SS3 at a private school, it’s worth asking the school directly whether it meets the TRCN requirement, because a school that loses its centre status may have to send candidates elsewhere to write. You can follow WAEC’s leadership changes in our report on new WAEC Registrar Amos Dangut, and our explainer on checking the NECO 2026 result shows how this year’s candidates performed. Keep an eye on the official JAMB, NECO and WAEC announcements over the coming months, since those confirmed timetables are what you’ll actually sit.