Tips For Gaining Admission For a Law Degree in Nigeria

Published on: November 2, 2021 (Updated on: September 14, 2024)

Gaining admission for a law degree in Nigeria can be a daunting task. However, there are tips you can apply that will help you secure admission with ease. These tips serve as the nuts and bolts for every intending law student, and they’ll be examined in this post.

First and foremost, intending law students in Nigeria should meet the necessary requirements to gain admission into a law faculty. Law is a prestigious course. As such, requirements that must be met for admission into a law faulty could be stringent.

Intending law students seeking admission for a law degree in Nigeria must be qualified for admission before the beginning of the session. They should ensure that their University of choice has no other specific faculty requirements apart from the general requirements for gaining admission into a University. If any, they should meet such requirements before applying.

Admission requirements for a law degree in Nigeria

For an applicant to be admitted to the LL.B program in Nigeria through UTME, he or she must:

1. Possess a minimum of 5 Credits in either WASC or SSCE or GCE Ordinary Level. This should be attained at not more than two sittings. Of the 5 basic subjects requiring a Credit, Mathematics, English Language, and Literature-in-English are compulsory. Any other 2 social science subjects can be added. E.g. Government and CRS/IRS.

2. Take UTME Examinations in English Language, Literature-in-English, Government, and CRS/IRS. The Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) is a computer-based standardized examination for prospective undergraduates in Nigeria. It’s conducted on a yearly basis by the Joint Admissions And Matriculation Board (JAMB) of Nigeria. UTME is for the sole purpose of selecting and placing suitably qualified candidates into Nigerian Universities.

3. Register and take the Post UTME conducted by the University.

For an applicant to be admitted to the LL.B program through Direct Entry, he or she must have:

1. Any of the following:

I. A First degree,

II. HND,

III. OND,

IV. SDA,

V. JUPEB,

VI. Cambridge A’level,

VII. NCE,

VIII. NFLV DIP,

IX. MUSON DIP,

X. ABRSM,

XI. Trinity College, London,

XII. Baccalaureate,

XIII. And DELF/DALF.

2. O’level results.

The procedures an applicant has to go through to be admitted through Direct Entry usually vary from school to school. However, an example of what it’s like will be cited here. Please note that this is the University of Lagos 2021/2022 Direct Entry online registration procedure for prospective students.

The University of Lagos wishes to inform all prospective Direct Entry (DE) candidates that online registration for admission into all courses/programs for the 2021/2022 Academic Year will commence from Monday 1st to Friday 12th November 2021.

Eligible candidates should log on to the University of Lagos website and follow the instructions stated below:

1. Click on admissions,

2. Click on Direct Entry Application,

3. Login with JAMB registration number as username and surname in lower case as password,

4. Generate and print payment advice,

5. Priced to any commercial bank to make a payment or pay online,

6. Return to the University portal to complete the screening form,

7. Upload O’level and A’level results,

8. Print Direct Entry e-registration slip.

Registration fee – 2,000 naira.

NOTE: ONLY candidates who made University of Lagos their first choice in the 2021/2022 Direct Entry (DE) JAMB application and possess five (5) credit passes at one sitting in relevant O’level subjects including English Language and Mathematics are eligible for registration.

There you have it. That’s a typical procedure for gaining admission into a University for a law degree through Direct Entry.

Important tips for gaining admission for a law degree in Nigeria

1. Meet all the necessary requirements to gain admission for a law degree.

2. Practice past question papers for the last 3 years pertaining to the UTME and the Post UTME.

3. Note the cut-off mark required to successfully pass the UTME and the Post UTME (JAMB DE and Post DE for Direct Entry applicants). Ensure you prepare well to score higher than the cut-off mark.

As a bonus, a few of the best universities offering Law in Nigeria are listed below. The list is based on a 2021 webometrics' ranking of top universities. Webometrics' methodology for ranking includes:

Number of external networks (subnets) linking to the institutions' webpages.
Number of citations from Top 210 authors.
Number of papers amongst the top 10% most cited in each one of the all 27 disciplines of [its] full database.

More information on webometrics' methodology can be found here.