The National Business and Technical Examinations Board (NABTEB) has released the results of the 2025 Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) entrance examination into Federal Technical Colleges (FTCs), revealing a significant surge in enrolment following the federal government’s tuition-free policy.
Announcing the results in Benin City during the opening of a three-day working session for the 2025 National Common Entrance Examination (NCEE) selection and placement exercise, NABTEB’s Registrar and Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Mohammed Aminu Mohammed, disclosed that out of 29,260 candidates who sat for the exam, 14,685 candidates — representing about 61% — scored below 50%.
Despite the mixed performance, Dr. Mohammed expressed optimism about the merit-based selection process, emphasising the importance of fairness and transparency in identifying the most talented and motivated students.
“We must ensure that we admit candidates who can truly benefit from our training,” he said. “Every successful candidate should be able to check their result on the NABTEB portal promptly and proceed to collect their admission letters from their respective schools.”
Highlighting the unprecedented increase in interest, the Minister of State for Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, attributed the spike in enrolment to President Bola Tinubu’s tuition-free initiative for FTC students.
In his remarks, delivered by the Director of Technology and Science Education, Dr. Muyibat Olodo, the minister acknowledged that previous low enrolment figures were largely due to societal and parental apathy towards technical and vocational education.
“We have long faced challenges of low enrolment because of the persistent societal perception of TVET,” he said. “However, the introduction of free tuition is changing this narrative, and societal acceptance of TVET is now gaining momentum.”
He added that the Federal Ministry of Education is working to sensitise stakeholders about the recently developed National Policy on Skills Development, aimed at further strengthening technical education in the country.
The 2025 figures show a remarkable increase in candidates — rising from just 7,546 in 2024 to 29,260 in 2025 — reflecting the positive impact of new government incentives.
Dr. Mohammed concluded by reaffirming NABTEB’s commitment to ensuring that the selection process into FTCs remains rigorous, transparent, and focused on merit, to produce graduates who can drive national development through technical and vocational skills.
