Mastering the JAMB CBT Format: What I Learned After Sitting Beside Thousands of Students. When computer-based tests first arrived in Nigeria, many people assumed it would simply be a digital version of the same old exam. Same questions, new screens. A cleaner, faster system.
But after almost a decade of tutoring students for UTME, POST-UTME, WAEC pilots, and professional tests, I’ve learned something different:
CBT is not just a new exam format — it is a new mental skill.
And most Nigerian students are walking into it untrained.
Every year, I watch brilliant students score lower than expected, not because they don’t know Mathematics or English, but because they don’t understand the mechanics of computer-based testing. CBT requires a different kind of intelligence — part academic, part digital, part psychological.
Let me break down the core skills students struggle with, and why these gaps matter.
Navigation: The First Barrier, and the Quietest Killer
During one mock exam, a brilliant student — one of the brightest I’ve trained — lost 14 minutes because he didn’t realise the question numbers at the top were clickable.
He thought the only way to move forward was the “Next” button.
So he clicked.
And clicked.
And clicked.
When he finally reached question 48, he looked exhausted, as if the exam were chasing him.
Watching him reminded me of something nobody tells students:
CBT is part-exam, part-interface.
If you can’t control the screen, the screen will control you.
The Countdown Clock and the Art of Not Panicking
There’s a particular sound a student makes when they see the CBT timer for the first time.
It’s not fear — not exactly.
More like a quiet gasp mixed with disbelief.
I remember a girl who froze after 10 minutes. She kept glancing at the corner of the screen, watching the seconds drip away like drops from a leaking roof. She knew the answers, but her mind was elsewhere — racing the clock instead of reading the questions.
After the exam, she said something I’ll never forget:
“I wasn’t writing the exam. I was fighting the time.”
CBT punishes the stubborn.
Paper exams let you linger; CBT does not.
Students must learn how to leave, skip, return, and attack — not wrestle one question to the death.
Timing is not a talent.
It is training.
On-Screen Reading: The Struggle No One Trains For
Growing up, we studied with textbooks.
We highlighted, circled, underlined, scribbled in margins.
But in the CBT world, a comprehension passage sits behind a glowing screen, stiff and cold, offering no comfort. Students have to:
- read faster,
- retain more,
- scroll carefully,
- fight glare,
- fight panic,
- and maintain understanding — all without marking anything.
One afternoon during practice, a boy paused halfway through a passage and said, “Sir, my eyes are paining me.”
He wasn’t lying.
The human eye gets tired on screens faster than on paper.
Yet we expect students to adapt without any preparation.
Question Filtering: The Skill That Separates a 210 from a 290
Some students have intelligence.
Others have strategy.
The students who score highest almost always share one trait:
they know what to answer now, and what to answer later.
I had one student who ignored the order of questions entirely. She moved through the exam like she was sorting beans — quickly separating the easy from the stubborn. She didn’t let ego drag her into solving everything immediately.
That girl taught me something I still repeat:
High scores come from discipline, not desperation.
Digital Confidence: The Invisible Wall
I’ve seen students who know Mathematics inside out struggle to click an answer without shaking.
I’ve seen students who can write flawless essays lose marks because they double-clicked and accidentally skipped a question.
I’ve seen students panic because the screen blinked, even though it was just auto-loading.
Digital confidence isn’t about being a “computer person.”
It’s about breathing normally in front of a machine.
In one mock, I placed a student on a system for 30 minutes before starting the exam. I told him:
“Click around. Discover nothing. Get comfortable.”
After that, his score jumped by almost 60 marks.
Not because he got smarter…
but because he relaxed.
Sometimes the biggest barrier is tension.
What Nigerian Students Are Really Fighting
Most of our students aren’t fighting subject difficulty.
They’re fighting:
- unfamiliar interfaces
- pressure from timers
- screen fatigue
- fear of making technical mistakes
- and the shock of a system they’ve never been trained for
It’s like asking someone to run a race, then giving them brand-new shoes five minutes before the starting gun.
They will run.
But they won’t win.
What Experience Has Taught Me
After years of tutoring, supervising tests, and watching thousands of students transition from panic to confidence, I’ve learned this:
CBT is a skill set —
one that deserves respect, training, and practice.
The students who excel aren’t necessarily the smartest.
They’re the ones who learned how to:
- navigate with ease
- manage time ruthlessly
- read screens efficiently
- filter questions strategically
- maintain digital calm
These are the untaught subjects of the CBT era.
The hidden curriculum.
The quiet truth behind exam performance.
If I Could Tell Every Nigerian Student One Thing…
It would be this:
You cannot prepare for CBT on paper.
You must prepare in the environment where the battle will be fought.
You train your eyes.
You train your speed.
You train your confidence.
You train your mind to stay calm under a countdown clock.
Knowledge is only half of the work.
Format is the other half.
And in CBT exams, the format quietly decides everything.
