UTME 2027 Changes: JAMB Plans Critical Thinking and Life Skills Questions, Later Start Time and Ottawa Centre

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) plans to add critical thinking and life skills to the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination from 2027, making it the biggest of several UTME 2027 changes the Board has now set out. The plan was highlighted in the latest edition of the JAMB Bulletin, which also confirmed a proposed UTME centre in Ottawa, Canada, expected to start operating in 2027.

If you’re preparing for the 2027 UTME, none of this changes what you should be studying this week, because JAMB hasn’t published a new syllabus, a sample question format or a revised subject combination. What it does tell you is that the exam you sit next year may not look exactly like the one your older siblings wrote, and it’s worth knowing where the process stands before rumours fill the gap.

Why JAMB wants the UTME to test how you think, not just what you’ve memorised

JAMB’s argument is that the UTME has a different job from WAEC and NECO. By the time you sit it, your O’Level results already show whether you’ve covered the subject content, so the Board sees little value in testing the same material again. Its job, as the Registrar, Prof. Segun Aina, explained when the reform committee was inaugurated, is to rank candidates for limited university places.

The Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, who was represented at the inauguration, backed the idea as part of the Federal Government’s wider assessment reforms, describing the aim as measuring candidates’ analytical, logical and verbal reasoning rather than their ability to recall content. In practice, that usually means questions built around reading a passage, interpreting data or working through a problem you haven’t seen before, though JAMB hasn’t yet said what form its own version will take.

The committee’s first report is due within weeks

JAMB inaugurated the committee in Abuja on 16 September under Prof. Boniface Nworgu of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Its members come from universities, examination bodies, professional regulatory councils, secondary schools, student groups and development organisations, and they were given four weeks to look at the proposal from a conceptual point of view. That puts their first recommendations around mid-October, with later phases involving assessment experts expected to follow.

This is the part to watch. A plan in a bulletin and a finished exam format are two different things, and the details that matter to you (how many questions, whether the new section counts towards your score out of 400, and whether it applies to every candidate) will only come once JAMB acts on the committee’s report. Until then, treat any “new UTME 2027 syllabus” circulating on WhatsApp with caution and check it against JAMB’s official channels.

A later start time and an Ottawa centre are also on the way

Not every change is about the questions. JAMB has already moved the arrival time for first-session candidates in the 2027 UTME from 6:30am to 7:30am, with the paper now running from 8:30am to 10:30am. The Board said the earlier time raised safety and logistical concerns for candidates travelling long distances before dawn to reach their CBT centres, and the decision came out of its 2026 Management and IT Retreat in Akwa Ibom State.

The latest bulletin followed JAMB’s participation in the 51st annual conference of the International Association for Educational Assessment, held in Toronto from 27 September to 2 October. Alongside the Registrar, the Board was represented by the Director of its Enugu zonal office, Mrs. Aja Nwachukwu, and the Acting Director of Public Affairs, Dr. Fabian Benjamin. Besides the Ottawa centre for Nigerians in the diaspora, JAMB said it’s developing a customer service platform called J-Care to resolve candidates’ complaints faster.

What 2027 UTME candidates should do now

Keep preparing for your four UTME subjects as normal, because that’s still what the exam tests and nothing official says otherwise. If you want a head start on the new direction, practise reading comprehension, data interpretation and timed problem-solving, which tend to help in any reasoning-style paper and won’t be wasted even if JAMB takes longer than planned.

If you’re still sorting out a 2026 offer, the more urgent dates are elsewhere. JAMB has extended the admission deadline to November 30 for 2021 to 2025 offers, and our breakdown of the 2026 CAPS admission deadlines explains which cut-off applies to your school. For anything on the 2027 exam itself, the safest source remains the JAMB website, where registration dates and any new format will be announced first.