₦airaland Forum

If you want to be admitted freshly into one of Nigeria’s tertiary schools, then you have to sit for an entrance test known as UTME (Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination), which is yearly organized by JAMB (Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board). Essentially, the UTME is a standardized, multiple-choice, computer-based test that is designed to measure the candidates’ knowledge and skills, as a way of assessing their readiness for higher schooling. Each and every UTME candidate is required to take four subject papers (including Use of English) and every subject test is scored as a percent, hence each candidate’s UTME score ranges from 0 to 400.

In a general sense, a smart test prep indicates a situation where you are able to prepare excellently for a scholarly test without using more time and effort than necessary. Putting it clearly, the smartest way to prepare for the UTME in the final days before the test is to test your knowledge thoroughly and fill the gaps in your knowledge promptly and effectively. And to this end, the following paragraphs suggest the everyday steps that prepare you smartly for the UTME, particularly in the final days before this all-important matriculation test.

Take regular mock UTME

An excellent way to prepare finally for the UTME is to regularly take mock UTME, which serves as practice for the real UTME. The idea of mock testing is for you to take a test which is similar to the real test, especially in terms of the test format, question types, number of questions, and time allowed. Certainly, taking mock UTME will familiarize you with the real UTME; the mock test will at least give idea of the question types you are going to come up against in the official test.

Take mock UTME in its full form

Though it is advisable to take a mock UTME paper now and again, it is definitely more advisable to take the mock UTME in its full form, that is, to take the four subject papers at a stretch, with the same ‘number of questions’ and ‘time allowed’ as the official UTME – after all, there is no better way to familiarize yourself with the real marathon-UTME than to take a mock marathon-UTME. As fixed by JAMB, the next UTME holds on May 13 – 20, 2017 all across Nigeria, and thankfully for the first time, JAMB conducted a mock UTME for the candidates on April 29, 2017. But after taking the JAMB’s mock UTME, you should endeavour to still take mock UTME several times before the official test date, preferably using a computer-based platform as similar to the official test.

Assess your practice work accurately

After taking a mock test, your chief concern should be how to accurately score your work so that you get to have true picture of your performance. Typically, a computer-based-testing facility should automatically score your practice work upon submission or at the expiration of the test time. Alternatively, you can accurately score your mock test by yourself, provided that you are using a reliable question-and-answer book.

Consider your correct answers constructively

After your mock test has been assessed, you can then see both your correct and incorrect answers. Firstly, you should reassure yourself that none of these correct answers is a fluke, that you can always reproduce those correct answers if you encounter those same questions again in any future test. In all likelihood, at least one of your correct answers is guesswork, since correct guesses are not unusual in a multiple-choice test. So wherever you merely guessed right, you should reconsider the corresponding question until you know its answer with certainty; after all, you only have to make a guess if you do not know something with certainty. Better still, you should consult your notebooks and textbooks with the intention to plug the gap in your knowledge which warranted such guesswork in the first place.

Correct your mock work effectively

Correcting your work requires you to determine the right answers to every question which you either failed to answer, or, which you answered incorrectly. As for your wrong answers, you should first ask yourself questions so as to identify the kinds of errors involved: (I) Did you use wrong data or formula? (II) Did you misinterpret the question? (III) Was it as a result of memory mix-up? After identifying the nature of your shortcomings, you should ensure that you correct these lapses immediately, as in correct your errors and omissions so effectively that you won’t repeat them in any future exam.

Maximize your gain

Of course, it should be understandable if you fail a particular question the first time, but it should be unacceptable if you fail the same or any related question again. So for the purpose of proper correction, you should see every wrong answer as an opportunity to revise an entire topic, perhaps some material which you somehow missed during your previous study or, in which you seem to have experienced memory loss. Definitely, your chances of doing very well in the real UTME improves whenever you fully correct your errors in the mock UTME and imbibe the corrections to the full.

Work hard to learn on your own

Normally in your regular study, you would come across certain important topics that are initially tough for you to understand or specific problems that are difficult for you to solve at first. For these knotty problems, you should always have a list of them at any point, with the intention that you would first of all work hard to solve them on your own. The key to solving any academic problem on your own – however hard it appears – is perseverance, which refers to the determination to keep trying to achieve something in spite of difficulties. If you persevere, you can eventually learn any difficult topic or solve any knotty problem. So don't give up on any tough challenge, for you are sure to overcome it if you keep working hard at it.

Engage in group learning

Alternatively you can prepare in a group, together with one or more like-minded colleagues. At best, it should be clear to every member when and where the group is meeting, what subjects they would be treating per time, and what exactly they would be doing together each time they meet. Whenever you meet, you may teach one another, share relevant ideas, organize quizzes, conduct researches, brainstorm on tough topics, take some mock test together whereby you exchange answer papers and mark the work of one another in an interactive manner etc. Better still, they may table what they cannot figure out before a professional teacher or anybody at all that can help them out. In any case, make sure you and other people in your group are very committed to your group learning, and during your group session, make every effort to gain as much relevant learning as possible, and to be of necessary assistance to other members of the group.

Optimize your exam time

As an exam taker your main goal is to maximize your score, that is, to get as many marks as you can, even to make perfect score if possible. However, the exam period – which is the length of time you are allowed to use continuously on the given exam – should be a vital consideration in your final prep for the coming UTME, which is a 2-hour test that would feature 180 questions in 4 subjects. Of course, the best outcome as you take more and more mock UTME, is to achieve higher and higher score within the given time. Obviously, you would be well advised to manage your exam time so well that you are able to complete answering all the questions before the exam time runs out. And for the fact that no candidate gets extra marks for submitting before time, you should make use of any time left on the clock after you’re done answering the questions, to inspect your work over and over, and correct any identified error or omission in the process.

The multiple-choice test is a form of academic assessment in which the test takers are asked to answer a set of questions by selecting for each question the only correct answer from among a number of given choices. In Nigeria the multiple-choice design is adopted by all the major public exams for school students, including National Common Entrance Examination (NCEE), Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE), Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE), and Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME). By all means, the UTME – the entrance test for Nigeria’s tertiary schools – is the most widely known public test in the country that fully embraces the multiple-choice format. For each candidate, the UTME consists of 4 subject-based papers (including Use of English), with each question bearing 4 answer choices. And for every multiple-choice test – with particular focus on the yearly UTME – the following paragraphs suggest a tried and trusted technique for scoring as high as you can.


Identify each question based on its level of difficulty

In order to achieve your best possible score on the UTME, you simply have to apply a method that makes a most productive use of your test-taking efforts. To start with, you should promptly go through the questions as soon as the exam time begins to tick away, and identify each question as belonging to one of three categories, depending on how difficult you find them. The first category consists of easy questions; it is quite easy for you to recall, figure out, or pick out the correct answers to these questions. The second category comprises moderately difficult questions; these are quite challenging questions which you can answer correctly, especially by putting your thinking cap on. The third category includes the difficult questions, the correct answers to which you are either uncertain about or you don’t even have a clue.


Adopt a suitable approach

Putting the above grouping into consideration, the most suitable approach to dealing with the UTME or any other multiple-choice test for that matter, requires you to conduct at least three rounds of ‘reading through the questions,’ with the intent to provide correct answers as you read. In the first reading, you should deal with the easy questions; second, the moderately difficult questions; and third, the difficult questions. And for the best outcome, you should conduct each of these readings in an orderly manner, either from the first to the last question or vice versa – don’t jump around, that is.


Get all the marks you deserve

Assume you have forty questions to answer in a particular UTME paper, your first task as you work through the paper is to identify each question as easy, moderately difficult, or difficult. Of course, you should answer the easy questions right away; don’t ever miss any easy mark. As for the moderately difficult question, don’t try to solve it immediately; since it would demand more time than the easy question, it is better to note the moderately difficult question and come back to it only after you have answered all the easy questions at least.


Tackle the difficult questions last

Very importantly, you shouldn’t waste precious time on any difficult question; you should simply move on to the next question if you find a particular question to be tough. And for a particularly difficult question, you may have to eventually make a guess; in this case, your chance of guessing right is higher if you are able to eliminate at least one option as incorrect, and it is highest if you have just only two likely options to choose from. So, even if you cannot answer a question instantly, eliminate the obviously wrong answer choices as you go through each question; narrow down to three or two possible answers if you can.


Manage the exam period effectively

The exam period is the length of time you are allowed to use continuously on the given exam. So in your own best interests, you should endeavor to be in control of the exam time, from the first to the last minute, using all of it most profitably or wasting none of it. By and large, three scenarios are possible as to how you manage the exam time. Firstly, you can be OUT OF TIME, as in you are yet to finish up after the exam time has run out; secondly, you can complete your answers right ON TIME, in which case no time is left as soon as you finish up; thirdly, you can complete the exam IN TIME, which means you have some time left after you are done with the test. Clearly, the best outcome is to manage your exam time so effectively that you are able to complete the exam IN TIME. But after you are done with the test, the time left on the test clock is the time gained – and the most gainful thing you can do with any time gained is to use all of it to inspect your work over and over, and correct any identified error or omission in the process. Though it is a plus to gain exam time, you must be careful to prevent avoidable errors in your work as you strive to finish up IN TIME.


Aim for the best possible score

The coming UTME (in 2017) is expected to be a two-hour test, consisting of 60 questions in Use of English and 40 questions each in three other subjects. So for you as a candidate, it is logical to consider the 4-paper UTME as a single test that comprises 180 questions and for which 120 minutes are allowed; after all, you would be permitted to answer the questions in any order that suits you. In any case, your focus during the test should be on how to score as many marks as possible before the exam time runs out. While taking the test, do the best you can and even go the extra mile in getting every single mark that you truly deserve plus those that you can possibly obtain. All things considered, you must make every effort to stay in control of yourself, and work tirelessly for the whole duration of the test without losing focus all the way.

Normally, you should be able to construct grammatically correct sentences by the end of primary schooling, compose short sensible essays by the end of secondary schooling, and write coherent theses by the end of tertiary schooling. So if you were unable to even make correct sentences as a tertiary-school graduate, then the problem with the school system that 'graduated' you must be very deep indeed. The only dependable solution is to overhaul the system and rebuild with a solid primary-school foundation. Of course, the Nigeria's school education system is long overdue for a farsighted reconstruction.