Just like every other University in Nigeria, Bayero University Kano (BUK) has a list of requirements you must reach before you would even be considered for their admission processes.
One of these requirements is possessing a minimum of five credits in your SSCE examination (WAEC, NECO or NABTEB) including English and Mathematics.
This requirement is the very basics of getting admission into any tertiary institution in the country and even beyond.
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How to Gain Admission into Bayero University Kano
There are two routes you can follow into getting admission into the university;
- The UTME Route
- The DE Route
The UTME Route
Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) or Joint Administration Matriculation Board (JAMB), as it is more popularly called is an exam intending candidates of tertiary institutions in Nigeria to take to test their capabilities and level of readiness into the course of their choice.
Candidates’ performance in this exam often determines their eligibility to be considered into their chosen university/course.
In BUK, the minimum UTME score a candidate/aspirant must possess before being considered for the admission process into any course in the university is 170.
This score of 170 is known as the cut-off mark and no student will be admitted through the UTME route if they get a UTME score of less than 170.
One might ask why some students got 170 and above and weren’t given admission.
Yes! They are aspirants who applied for BUK but were not given admission into the school even after scoring the cut-off for the school and above. There are several reasons why this may occur and we are going to look at some.
Firstly, you didn’t meet the cut-off for your department. Every department has a cut-off mark. Aside from meeting the cut-off point of the institution, aspirants should also try to score above the cut-off mark for the department of their choosing.
In some instances, candidates who make the cut-offs might still not be given their course of choice and might even get their course changed. What went wrong here?
The situation cited above is a very tricky one but we are going to try and analyze it.
Each department has its quota. The quota is the carrying capacity of the department.
It is the number of aspirants a particular department can offer admission to for a particular year.
Let’s take for example, in a given year, the cut-off mark for Nursing Science is 220 and the quota for that year is 100, and we also have about 2000 candidates who applied for Nursing Science in that year.
Let’s say 1200 of those students got more than the cut-off of 220 in their UTME. There is no way BUK will be able to admit every single person who applied for Nursing that year and scored more than 220. It can’t happen.
So now, there are 1200 candidates. The department only wants 100 because that’s the number they can take. The departmental officials will have to find a way to downsize the figure. They will probably end up picking the top 100 aspirants with the highest score.
They are other aspects they might consider like catchment, Educational less developed states (ELDS), and others that we will get to that later on, in this article.
The bottom line here is that as an aspirant, the higher you score, the higher your chances are of being admitted into your chosen course.
Another reason why one might not be given their chosen course is as a result of the wrong subject combination. This has affected a lot of students. To avoid this as an aspirant, you need to undergo a lot of research regarding this.
You can’t be an aspirant of Law and not write Literature in English in your SSCE and UTME. Your course will be automatically changed to a course more befitting of your subject combination no matter how high you score in your UTME.
This is a very important criterion most aspirants tend to overlook. So as you are aiming and striving for a high JAMB score, you must also make sure that your subjects combinations are on point.
The Direct Entry (DE) Route
This route is usually undertaken by candidates who have their A’ level. Candidates who have undertaken SSCE are said to have O’ level.
A’ level can be acquired through Interim Joint Matriculation Board Examination (IJMBE), popularly known as IJMB.
It is a nine-month program post O’level that offers a chance for aspirants to gain admission into the higher institution without the use of JAMB. It is seen as an alternate route to JAMB.
After the conclusion of the nine months program, successful candidates will be admitted straight into the 2nd year of their chosen program without even writing the school’s post UTME.
The DE route can also be undertaken by NCE, ND, HND and even B.sc holders looking for further qualifications or more fulfillments.
The Nature of BUK Post UTME
This is an exam conducted by the institution to further screen aspirants. It is usually conducted after the UTME hence its name. Post UTME is quite similar to UTME.
In BUK, the post UTME is usually conducted manually (with the use of pencil and paper) and in some cases, a calculator.
Post UTME is always conducted in the Universities’ premises and so aspirants must travel from wherever they are based to the school’s campus if they are willing to sit for the exam.
Candidates should endeavour to know their venue or centres before the date of their Post UTME. The university has two campuses:
The old site (mostly for science courses) and the new site (for art courses, engineering courses, etc). Despite this, the venue for candidates examinations is not fixed.
Students who aspire for science courses might end up having their centres located in the new site and those who aspire for art courses can also have their centres at the old site.
The score for the post UTME is usually added to that of the UTME and further divided by 2 to form an aggregate. This aggregate is what will be used to further screen aspirants for the admission process.
The post UTME is usually an opportunity for candidates who didn’t perform well in the UTME to do well in the Post UTME as they are assumed to be better prepared for the second exam. And also an opportunity for those who performed well in the UTME to prove themselves a second time.
BUK Admission Requirements
- Catchment Area
- Educationally Less Developed States (ELDS)
- Merit
Another very important part of the admission process we must look at is that of Geographical positioning.
BUK is in Kano state of the North West and as such, aspirants who hail from Kano or other neighbouring states are considered above those from the south during the admission process.
This is done by almost every government institution in Nigeria to assure that the citizens of the area a particular institution is located, are not left out.
Aspirants from Kano and its surrounding states are said to be from BUK’s catchment area and as such are highly considered above others.
Take, for example, an aspirant from Kano who has an aggregate of 240 and is aspiring for Law, and another aspirant from Lagos State has the same score and is aspiring for the same course. Best believe, that the aspirant from Kano will be considered first for admission before that from Lagos.
ELDs mean Educationally less advanced states. These are states that are not exactly up to par in their educational system.
ELDs were created as a key point during the admission process as a way of making sure that aspirants from states considered to fall under this group are also given a fighting chance.
Some states that are parts of ELDs include Kogi, Benue, and most Northern states.
These states are given a higher priority in the admission process over the merit area but are given a lesser priority than the catchment area.
MERITS: The first batch of admission list is usually given by merits. Aspirants who fall under this group are those with the highest aggregates and they can come from any state at all.
Tips On How to Pass BUK Post UTME
One of how candidates can boast of a good score in the post UTME examination is by studying and practising past questions as they familiarize you with the type of questions that may likely be set for the exam.
As stated earlier, the exam is written manually. The past questions can be gotten from the school or any student of the institution.
No matter how tempting the situation might get, DO NOT ENGAGE IN EXAMINATION MALPRACTICE. This is a very serious offence to the school and it will automatically nullify a candidate.
Conclusion
Despite the many aspirants who apply to BUK, you can be among the successful candidates if you Put God first and study profusely as BUK is not a place for lazy individuals.
You should endeavour to not only study hard but study smart. If this year doesn’t work for you, you shouldn’t give up. Dust your books and your prayer mat and continue striving and praying hard.
KEEP Your HEAD UP AND NEVER GIVE UP!!
LONG LIVE BUK KANO
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