JAMB: Some tertiary schools don’t verify A’level results submitted by DE candidates

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has expressed concern that some institutions are failing to verify the results submitted by candidates, particularly those applying for Direct Entry (DE) admissions.

JAMB Bulletin, in a report published on Monday, said the board has highlighted that its screening process is designed to ensure only legitimate credentials are accepted.

The board stressed that verification is, however, the primarily the responsibility of the admitting institutions.

JAMB’s concern follows an alarming discovery by the Bayero University, in Kano, which found that only six out of 148 results it verified for admission were genuine.

The remaining certificates were found to be fraudulent.

In 2023, JAMB also uncovered 1,665 fake A-level results during a DE registration season.

In response to such issues, the board introduced the Nigeria Integrated Post-Secondary Education Data System (NIPEDS) to facilitate the verification of A’level qualifications, including those from foreign institutions.

It said the system has already flagged multiple cases of forgery, with 13 additional A’level certificates recently identified as fake.

JAMB said some institutions had already processed admissions for candidates using these forged documents before they were detected.

The affected individuals, the board said, have been referred to law enforcement agencies for prosecution.

JAMB warned that institutions admitting candidates based on fraudulent credentials would be considered complicit in the malpractice.

The board emphasised that NIPEDS is only serving as a valuable verification tool, not absolving institutions from conducting their own due diligence.

One of the most serious forgery cases, the board said, involved candidates submitting fake Interim Joint Matriculation Board Examination (IJMBE) results from Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) in an attempt to gain admission into the same institution.

JAMB urged all higher education institutions to conduct thorough verification of A’level qualifications, whether issued by their own institution or others.