JAMB, WAEC End Multiple O’Level Verification Charges, Fix N4,000 One-off Fee

Kuni Tyessi in Abuja

Candidates seeking admission into Nigerian tertiary institutions will now pay N4,000 only once to verify their West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) or O’Level results, under a new arrangement jointly introduced by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) and the West African Examinations Council (WAEC).

The development is expected to bring relief to admission seekers who have often been subjected to repeated verification of their academic credentials by different institutions during the admission process.

Under the new arrangement, candidates whose admissions are regulated by JAMB are required to verify their WAEC results once through JAMB, after which the verification outcome will be made available to the relevant tertiary institution.

JAMB and WAEC, in a joint statement issued on Tuesday, said candidates would make the N4,000 payment only through the specified JAMB Verification Service platform, stressing that the fee should not be paid to individual institutions.

The two bodies also directed tertiary institutions to utilise the verified results supplied by JAMB for admission screening, processing and other administrative purposes.

Consequently, institutions are not permitted to demand additional payments from candidates for another verification of the same WAEC result.

The new policy follows a series of meetings and consultations between JAMB and WAEC aimed at simplifying the verification process and reducing the financial and logistical burden on admission seekers.

According to the statement, WAEC has authorised JAMB to share the outcome of the verification exercise with relevant tertiary institutions for admission-related purposes.

“This arrangement is designed to ensure that candidates who have successfully verified their WASSCE O’ Level result through the Verification Service platform will not be required to repeat the same verification exercise,” the bodies said.

They explained that the initiative would also enable candidates to initiate the verification process from the comfort of their homes or any internet-enabled location, reducing the need for repeated visits to tertiary institutions or JAMB-approved Computer-Based Test, or CBT centres.