The Federal Government has proposed a new examination timetable aimed at ensuring that candidates sitting the 2027 West African Examinations Council (WAEC), National Examinations Council (NECO) and other major external examinations receive their results by August, ahead of the September tertiary admission process.
The proposed plan is designed to prevent delays in releasing examination results and reduce disruptions to candidates seeking admission into universities, polytechnics and colleges of education.
In a statement issued on Wednesday night, the Director of Press and Public Relations at the Federal Ministry of Education, Boriowo Folasade, said the Minister of State for Education, Prof. Suwaiba Sa’id Ahmad, announced the plan during a meeting with heads and representatives of examination bodies at the ministry’s headquarters in Abuja.
According to the statement, the meeting focused on harmonising examination schedules, preventing clashes among major examinations and ensuring that results are processed and released within agreed timelines.
Under the proposed timetable, the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) will conduct the 2027 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) from March 15 to 25, with results expected within the same month.
NECO’s Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) is scheduled to run from April 1 to May 14, while WAEC’s West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) will hold from May 11 to June 18.
Both NECO and WAEC are expected to release their results in August 2027.
The National Business and Technical Examinations Board (NABTEB) examination is proposed to take place from June 1 to July 5, while the National Board for Arabic and Islamic Studies (NBAIS) examination is scheduled for June 10 to July 9. Results from both examinations are also expected in August.
The proposed schedule places the examination bodies under pressure to complete their examination, marking and result-processing activities within the stipulated timelines.
The Federal Ministry of Education said the initiative aligns with the education reform agenda of the Minister of Education, Dr Maruf Tunji Alausa, under the Nigeria Education Sector Renewal Initiative (NESRI), which seeks to improve efficiency, coordination and educational outcomes.
The ministry added that consultations with examination bodies would continue to promote compliance, strengthen accountability and align result releases with tertiary admission schedules.
The Federal Government, under President Bola Tinubu, reiterated its commitment to reforms aimed at improving the efficiency of the education system and expanding timely access to tertiary education.
However, the timetable remains a proposal, and its implementation will depend on effective coordination among the examination bodies and their ability to meet the agreed deadlines.
If implemented, the plan could provide candidates and their parents with greater certainty about the transition from secondary school examinations to tertiary admissions, while reducing disruptions caused by delayed results.
