JAMB Biology: How To Prepare and Pass

If you want Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Agriculture, Microbiology or any other life science course, Biology is almost certainly on your list. Many candidates also pick it as a fourth subject because it is manageable.

Biology has 40 questions in the UTME. That is the same as your other non-English subjects, so every question is worth the same marks.

What the syllabus covers

The JAMB Biology syllabus is built around a few big themes: variety of organisms, form and functions, ecology, and heredity and evolution. You can download the full list from the JAMB website.

Treat each theme as a block. Finish one block before starting the next, and use the syllabus to tick off each topic when you are comfortable with it.

Learn the diagrams properly

Biology questions often show a diagram of a cell, a leaf, a flower, the heart or the digestive system and ask you to name a part or state its function. Do not just look at them, draw them.

Draw each diagram from memory, label it, then compare with your textbook. After three or four tries you will remember it without effort.

Study in small linked pieces

Many Biology topics connect. For example, photosynthesis links to ecology, and cell division links to heredity. When you learn a new topic, ask yourself where it connects to something you already know.

This makes the facts stick, and it helps you answer questions that mix two ideas, which JAMB likes to do.

Terms and definitions

Biology uses a lot of special words, such as osmosis, diffusion, symbiosis and chromosome. Keep a small notebook for these terms and write each one in your own simple words.

Test yourself by covering the meaning and trying to say it aloud. If you can explain it like you are talking to a younger sibling, you know it.

A study plan that works

Spend the first month going through the syllabus topic by topic, with short notes and past questions after each one. In the second month, revise the weak topics and redraw your diagrams.

In the last weeks, do timed sets of 40 questions in about 40 minutes. Check every mistake and write down the correct answer beside it.

Mistakes to avoid

Do not cram a whole textbook the week before the exam. Biology rewards steady revision, and last-minute reading just mixes up similar terms.

Also watch out for questions with words like "except" or "not". Read the question twice before you pick an answer.

Using your textbook the smart way

Pick one good Biology textbook and stick with it. Jumping between five books only confuses you and wastes time that you could use for practice.

Read a topic once, close the book and write down what you remember. Then open it again and fill the gaps. This active method works better than reading the same page three times.

Revise with a friend

Studying alone is fine, but a weekly session with one serious friend can help a lot. Take turns to explain a topic out loud and ask each other questions.

When you teach something, you discover what you do not really know. Keep the group small and the time short, about one hour, so it stays useful.

Bringing it together

Biology is very passable when you study with the syllabus, draw your diagrams, learn your terms and practise under time. A few weeks of steady work can change your score a lot.

For the bigger picture, read our guide on how to score high in JAMB UTME and the notes on using JAMB past questions. If you are still choosing subjects, see JAMB subject combinations.

Looking for past questions to practise with? We sell them, so reach out through our contact page and tell us your subjects.