JAMB Use of English: what the 60 questions cover and how to prepare

Use of English is compulsory for every UTME candidate and carries 60 of the 180 questions. It is usually shared like this:

A. Comprehension and summary (about 25 questions)

• One comprehension passage (about 5 questions).
• One cloze passage, where you fill gaps with the right word (about 10).
• The prescribed reading text (about 10). For the 2026 UTME the text was The Lekki Headmaster by Kabir Alabi Garba, which replaced The Life Changer.

B. Lexis and structure (about 25 questions)

• Sentence interpretation (about 5).
• Antonyms: words opposite in meaning (about 5).
• Synonyms: words nearest in meaning (about 5).
• Sentence completion and grammar (about 10).

C. Oral forms (about 10 questions)

• Vowel sounds, consonant sounds, rhymes, word stress and emphatic stress, about 2 questions each.

Sources differ by a few questions on some sections, so treat the numbers as a guide, not an official breakdown.

How to prepare

1. Read the reading text from start to finish and note characters, events and places. 2. Learn common antonym and synonym pairs, and read the full sentence before choosing. 3. For oral forms, practise sounds aloud; most marks are lost here by guessing. 4. Do the cloze passage by reading the whole paragraph first, then filling the gaps.

Practise free JAMB Use of English questions with explanations on AdmitMe.