21,971 Candidates Jostle For 13,000 Unilorin Admission Slots

A total of 21,971 admission seekers have applied for the 2025/2026 Post-UTME screening exercise of the University of Ilorin, which commenced on August 28, 2025, and is expected to run until Thursday, September 4, 2025.

Speaking with newsmen, the Director of the University Computer-Based Test (CBT) Centre, Professor Kamilu Rauf, said the exercise, which began with 26 underage applicants, comprised 20,220 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) candidates and 1,751 Direct Entry (DE) candidates.

Professor Rauf noted that this year’s figure reflects an increase over last year’s 15,946 UTME and 1,175 Direct Entry applicants. He added that about 12,856 candidates were admitted in the 2024/2025 academic session.

“This year, we recorded an addition of over 4,200 UTME candidates and 576 Direct Entry applicants, which shows that more students are making the University of Ilorin their first choice,” he stated.

The Professor of Mathematics attributed the surge in applications to the growing reputation of the university for academic excellence, uninterrupted academic calendar, and efficient administration.

“Our slogan is ‘Better by Far,’ and candidates know that when you come to UNILORIN, four years means four years, and five years means five years, without the disruptions of prolonged strikes,” he added.

Also speaking, the Chairman of the University Admissions Committee, Professor Abdulazeez Muhammad-Lawal, described the first day of the exercise as successful, noting that candidates conducted themselves well.

Professor Muhammad-Lawal said: “We were expecting 30 underage candidates to participate today, but 26 of them actually turned up. The examination went smoothly, and the students displayed commendable discipline.”