The Latest UNIBEN Cut Off Mark For Medicine And Surgery 2020/2021

uniben medicine cut off mark eliminates many students

The UNIBEN cut off mark for Medicine and surgery can be like a wicked security officer. 

Try to get in without the necessary attributes, and he’ll punch you right out of the way and send you back home  (Zero chills).

You can also call him the “dream killer” because he only accepts a few and throws the rest out of their goals of;

  • Getting into medical school
  • Becoming a medical doctor 
  • Achieving their life goals

Let’s take a look at the 2017/2018 academic session. About 12 905 aspirants set their hearts out on the goal of getting into medical school in UNIBEN.

But at the end of the day, only about 140 students or less got admission, amounting to a 1% admission rate. Life’s tough. 

Do you want to gain admission into Medicine and surgery in UNIBEN, then you need  to know these; 

One, you need to know what the UNIBEN cut off mark for Medicine entails.

Secondly, you need a target to put in mind while you go out there to prepare for UTME or post-UTME (if you’ve not written). 

Whichever one you’re here for, I guarantee you one thing; you’ll get every useful information you need from this guide. 

I’ve also chipped in a bonus for you: “Understanding how admission works in Uniben,” which will help you mentally navigate what to expect after your post-UTME. Where else do you see such value? 🤭

That’s undoubtedly, everything you need on UNIBEN cut off mark for Medicine and surgery!  

If you’re ready to learn this, then take a seat and let me guide you through!

What Is Cut Off Marks All About? 

uniben cut off mark for medicine and surgery

Before you learn about the UNIBEN cut off mark for Medicine, let me take you through an overview of what cut off marks generally entails.

Cut off marks are the scores limit set by a body that acts to screen students/people applying into a particular entity. 

This term doesn’t only apply to getting admission in tertiary institutions but can be used in different exams like WAEC, USMLE, etc. 

However, there are different cut off marks you’ll face before getting admission into Medicine in UNIBEN. 

There are three of them which you’re going to know more about in this guide. 

What Are The Different Cut off Marks to Face As A Student?

1. JAMB Cut off mark 

JAMB is the first body that works to screen students applying to tertiary institutions in Nigeria. 

How do they do this? By using the UTME!

Each year, JAMB conducts the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, which they use to test students vying into tertiary institutions in Nigeria.

And after you must have written the exam, they come into play and set what we call the “JAMB cut off mark.” 

JAMB cut-off mark is the minimum score set by the body below which no applicant should get into any tertiary institution in Nigeria. 

The JAMB cut-off mark for universities in 2020 was 160. Polytechnic was 120, and college of education was 100

This means that if you get below 160 in JAMB, you’ll not be allowed to gain admission into any university in Nigeria despite your post-UTME screening. 

Do you get the gist? 

Let’s move over to the next one. 

2. Institution/School Cut off marks. 

After JAMB has set their universal cut off marks for all tertiary institutions, each school then put up their cut off mark to further screen students intending to apply to that school.

This school cut-off mark is implemented during the call for post-UTME screening and is used to cut out some students who the University doesn’t feel worthy of getting into their school. 

In 2020, the school cut off mark for UNIBEN was 180. So even if you passed the JAMB cut-off mark at 160, you’d not be allowed to pick up the post-UTME form for admission. 

Now you’ve got this, let’s move over to the meat of this post; the Departmental cut-off mark for Medicine and surgery in UNIBEN.

3. Departmental Cut off marks. 

Alas! Passing the JAMB and the institutional cut off mark was like talking a walk down the park. But, there’s one more hurdle remaining; departmental cut-off mark!

Each institution sets departmental cut-off marks to screen students applying to a particular department in the school. This cut off mark is usually the toughest out of others, which eliminates plenty of candidates. 

This is where the main deal lies. If there are thousands of applicants for a course, get ready to fight the security officer for the admission slot. 

But you’ll save yourself a lot of stress if you’ve got an idea of the departmental cut-off mark for Medicine and surgery. That’s why you’re lucky to read this post! 

Since you’re aiming to study Medicine at UNIBEN, we will look at the UNIBEN cut off mark for Medicine and surgery. 

What Is the UNIBEN Cut off mark for Medicine and surgery for Previous Years? 

The University of Benin, like most other universities in Nigeria, does not disclose its departmental cut off marks for some reasons known to them. 

However, we’ve gone through the chores and have done thorough research from an insider and have gotten you this valuable information. 

Here’s the UNIBEN cut off mark for Medicine and surgery for the past three years and that of the current 2020/2021 session. 

Why do you need to know this? It’s simple! It’ll give you an idea of what to expect in the future results. You’ll also get an inkling of targets to aim while grinding for UTME and post-UTME.

Without wasting time, let’s get to it; 

Academic session UNIBEN Merit Cut off mark for Medicine and surgery 
2017/201877
2018/201977
2019/202074
2020/202179

Disclaimer: I deem it very important to lay this to you; the UNIBEN cut off mark for Medicine and surgery that I stated above is ONLY for Merit. So, you can get into Medicine at the University of Benin with scores lower than that using catchment or ELDs

What is the UNIBEN cut off mark for Medicine and surgery 2020/2021 session? 

According to an insider, the merit cut off mark for Medicine in UNIBEN Is 79. The cut off marks for catchment areas are not yet disclosed. 

How Is UNIBEN Aggregate Score Calculated?

If you’re going to get admission into the University of Benin, two significant criteria rate your chances. One is your UTME, and the second, Post-UTME test. But how does UNIBEN calculate their aggregate score? Here’s it; 

Your UTME and Post-UTME are shared equally, i.e., 50:50. Your UTME divided by 8 gives you the first 50% while your test gives the other half. 

The UNIBEN post-UTME will test your knowledge on the major science subjects offered in JAMB. For Medicine and surgery, it’ll be;

  • English language 
  • Biology 
  • Chemistry 
  • Physics
  • And sometimes Mathematics!

What about the number of questions? It varies! Sometimes it’s 60, 50, or 70. But despite the variation, it doesn’t go below 50. 

What To Target As A UNIBEN Medical Aspirant

Studying for Medicine and surgery in Nigeria can be a pin on the neck. To others, a good score above 250 in JAMB is very sufficient to get them admission into their course of choice. But what about you? Don’t overthink! You’re going to put in more work, studying to score above 300 in JAMB.

To further fuel that drive, here’s what you should target if you want to study Medicine in the University of Benin:

  • JAMB: 320
  • Post-UTME: 78

You should remember that these are targets only. They’re for your motivation if you’ve not yet written those exams. They should be your target because you don’t want to compete, and live in fears of not getting admission. But you want to dominate, and be confident waiting for admission list!

Advice To Aspirants of the UNIBEN School of Medicine and Surgery. 

Now that you’ve known all that let’s move over to some advice to get into medical school in UNIBEN from a first year medic.

1. Study English Very Well to Pass The UNIBEN Cut off mark for medicine and surgery

Biology May be interesting, Physics very understandable, and Chemistry convenient to read, but if you neglect English, you might be putting your admission slot at risk! Practice jamb past questions and take your English very seriously because I heard it has higher marks than other subjects. 

2. Learn Maths Too! Don’t Be Caught Unawares.

In the 2018/2019 session, when I wrote the UNIBEN post-UTME, there was no mathematics for medical students. However, I was appalled to see maths in the 2019/2020 test. I was caught unawares. But thanks to God, I had been doing Mathematics in my first year and still had a fresh memory of some topics. This here helped me to ace the test. So, practice maths too because anything can happen. 

3. The number of questions varies but be prepared.

The Uniben post-UTME questions vary from year to year. It was 70 questions in 2018/2019 and 60 in 2019/2020. Whatever it is, don’t fret; prepare as best as possible and be timely in answering the questions.

4. Read Hard Like Your Life Depends on It 

You’re vying for Medicine and surgery in UNIBEN, one of the most competitive courses in the school, so you need to be different. There are thousands of other students like YOU who want to get admission, so my best advice for you is to Read hard. Do whatever it takes to ace the exams. Take home and conquer! 

Bonus: Understanding How Admission Works In UNIBEN

The University of Benin uses the general 45:35:20 ratio for dishing out admission slots. The first 45% of the space goes to merit, 35% to catchment areas, and 20% to educationally less developed states (ELDs). 

The cut-off marks we stated earlier apply for the merit, i.e., the 45% of the admission list. There are also the catchment areas and ELDs; the reason I said you can get in with scores lower than the UNIBEN cut off mark for Medicine and surgery. 

So after the post-UTME, UNIBEN gets the 45% of the quota based on the highest performance. And the score of the last person in this category becomes the merit cut off mark.

If you don’t fall into this section, you’re in luck, provided that you’re from the UNIBEN catchment areas below; 

  • Edo 
  • Delta 
  • Akwa-Ibom 
  • Cross-rivers 
  • And the Imo States. 

Then UNIBEN chooses the best 5-12 students from each catchment area. 

Then there’s the final one; the educational less developed states. Read this post to see if your state falls in this category. 

So, there you go, a complete admission list containing the three sections! 

Final Words On UNIBEN cut off mark for Medicine and surgery. 

Getting into Medicine and surgery in UNIBEN can be cumbersome. The stress of reading very hard to get high scores in UTME and to reproduce it in post-UTME. But it’s worth it – the joy of admission success. 

However, with a complete guide on the cut-off marks for Medicine and surgery in UNIBEN, the path seems more straightforward, and you’ll have a target to aim. You’ll get the perspective you need to work super hard, beat the competition and get admission! And that’s precisely what I dished out in this guide for you! 

Is there anything I missed out on in UNIBEN cut off mark for Medicine and surgery 2020/2021? Do good to let us know using the comment section below!

Other than that, if you’ve found this post helpful, encourage us by sharing it with your friends and colleagues using the tab below. Follow the tips in this guide, and i’m sure you’ll do just great! 

Also Read These Posts


Are you a medical aspirant or student? Then learn a new skill of freelancing and how to make money from it as a side hustle! Get the Ultimate Freelance Writing Guide book that’ll teach you the exact strategies I used to skyrocket my finances through writing even without blogging! Don’t Miss Out!

Share the love
Anaso Emmanuel
Anaso Emmanuel

My name is Anaso Emmanuel and I’m the founder of MedicsDomain; an SEO Expert, Content Writer and an Enthusiastic learner. To the outside world, I’m an ordinary Medic but secretly I use this blog to help aspirants get into medical school, provide insightful guides and connect with others like me.