JAMB- The Joint Admission and Matriculation Board, says no fewer than 176,408 candidates were examined in the 2023 mock Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations, UTME, conducted by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board on Thursday, nationwide.

The mock UTME which was earlier slated for Thursday, March 16, 2023, was shifted to Thursday, March 30, 2023 because of change in the date for the governorship and state house of assembly elections earlier scheduled to hold on Saturday, March 11, 2023, but was moved to March 18, 2023.

The JAMB Spokesman, Dr. Fabian Benjamin, explained that the mock UTME was an optional examination introduced by the Board to provide the opportunity for candidates to have hands-on experience with the system as well as afford the Board an opportunity to ascertain its readiness and that of its partners for the main UTME, which is scheduled to hold between April 29, to May 12, 2023.

Benjamin also announced that this year’s UTME would witness some groundbreaking innovations aimed at addressing observed infractions and centre failures.

He noted, for instance that in the new regime, if there was a delay up to one hour before the commencement of a particular session, that session would be cancelled and rescheduled.

He disclosed that a total of 176,408 candidates registered to sit for the 2023 mock UTME.

At the close of the registration last month, Benjamin had informed that about 1.6 million candidates had successfully registered for the 2023 UTME.

”This number does not include the Direct Entry component of the exercise which had started on Monday, 20th February 2023 before it was put on hold on Tuesday, 21st February 2023.

”The JAMB Registrar’s monitoring team which has gone around the country was in Nasarawa and Delta states on the final day of the exercise to oversee its conclusion.

”In Asaba, Delta State, the team visited Trinity Innovation Hub CBT Centre; Delta State Polytechnic, Ogwashi-Uku CBT Centre 1 and 2; Delta State Library CBT and others.

” It was however, remarkable that none of these centres has any candidates waiting to be registered, indicating that almost all candidates who desire to register for the exercise have done so,” he said.

Benjamin further said that the same situation was replicated in many centres in Nasarawa State as few candidates were seen at all the centres a day before the closing date and these were cleared before the close of work.

According to him, from every indication, this year’s exercise is shaping up to be the smoothest the board has ever had.