The Federal Government has ordered that any student caught cheating in any national examination will face a three-year ban across all external exam bodies, including JAMB, WAEC, NECO, and NABTEB.
This directive was disclosed in an official circular signed by JAMB’s Public Communications Advisor, Dr Fabian Benjamin, dated May 27, 2025.
The policy forms part of wider measures to reduce examination malpractice and eliminate the influence of miracle centres in Nigeria’s education system.
According to the circular, the directive was issued by the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, in line with Sections 5(1)(c)(iv) and 6 of the JAMB Act.
“Student (s) involved in examination malpractice should be barred from sitting for any external examinations in Nigeria, such as those conducted by WAEC, NECO, NABTEB, etc., for three years using the instrumentality of NIN. Such a stringent measure will serve as a deterrent to other students and parents,” the board stated
The federal government believes that this policy will discourage students and parents from engaging in malpractice and restore credibility to the country’s examination system.
Sanctions against miracle centres
The directive also includes strict sanctions against schools and Computer-Based Test (CBT) centres that aid malpractice.
“Any school/CBT centre involved in examination malpractice and/or acting as a miracle centre should be derecognised for a number of years. The duration will be determined by the examination body,” the board stated
In addition, the circular noted that examination bodies must work together to enforce penalties across the board.
“If any school/CBT centre is derecognised by any examination body, other sister examination bodies should follow suit and derecognise the same school/CBT centre for the same number of years to run concurrently. This will send a very strong signal to the operators of these miracle centres,” they stated
More insights
JAMB explained that the ministerial directive aligns with Section 16(2) of the Examination Malpractices Act.
This provision empowers examination bodies to withdraw recognition from centres involved in malpractice and share the names of such centres with other examination authorities, enabling coordinated sanctions across different exam bodies
The three-year ban on students caught cheating will be enforced through the National Identification Number (NIN), which is mandatory for all candidates before they can sit for any national examination.
What you should know
Nairametrics reported that the statistical breakdown published on May 5, 2025, by the board indicates that out of the 1.95 million students who took the exam, 97 candidates were involved in direct examination infractions, while 2,157 others are currently undergoing investigations for suspected malpractices
JAMB noted that they are carrying out investigations with security agencies into some Computer-Based Test (CBT) centres. The Board emphasized that any CBT centre found violating regulations will not receive payment.
An initial payment of over N3 billion was released to accredited centres as part-payment for services during the 2025 UTME, but the Board retains the right to recover funds from any centres implicated in the investigations, including through legal means.
