NDA Nigeria 2026: The UTME Score You Need Just to Sit the Screening Test -- Before the Academy's Own Exam Even Starts

The Nigerian Defence Academy's 78th Regular Course Screening Test is scheduled for 20 June 2026, open to candidates across the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Faculty of Science, and Faculty of Engineering and Technology, each with its own required subject combination (Use of English plus three faculty-specific subjects). Before any of that screening happens, candidates must first clear a published cut-off on their JAMB UTME score: 180 for Arts/Social Sciences and Science courses, 210 for Engineering.

1. This cut-off is a UTME score, not an NDA exam score -- a distinction many guides blur. The 180/210 figures sit on JAMB's own 400-point scale (four subjects, 100 marks each), the same scale used for civilian university admission. Clearing it doesn't admit a candidate to NDA -- it only earns an invitation to sit the Academy's own screening test, which is a separate written exam and SSB-style selection process.

2. Converted to a percentage, NDA's bar sits above most civilian universities' 2026 minimums. 180/400 = 45%; 210/400 = 52.5%. Compare that to the 2026 UTME cut-offs published by Nigerian universities themselves: the 150-mark national minimum is 37.5%, mid-tier schools at 170-185 run 42.5-46.25%, and even UNILAG, UI, OAU and UNIBEN's shared 200-mark benchmark is exactly 50%. NDA's Engineering threshold (52.5%) exceeds every one of those -- higher than Nigeria's most selective civilian universities' UTME floor, and only 2.5 percentage points below the single highest published 2026 university cut-off nationwide (Pan-Atlantic's 220/55%).

3. Why this surprises candidates. The Academy is often perceived as an alternative, "easier" route into higher education relative to competing for a spot at an elite civilian university -- largely because its own screening test and SSB process aren't publicly benchmarked the way UTME cut-offs are. But the data shows the opposite at the eligibility gate specifically: a candidate needs a stronger UTME score to be invited to try for NDA Engineering than to be admitted outright to UNILAG, UI, or OAU.

4. The practical implication for subject preparation. Because the UTME score is the gate, not a tiebreaker, a candidate targeting NDA Engineering should treat their UTME preparation with the same intensity as someone targeting a 210-equivalent civilian engineering programme -- there is no NDA-specific discount on this first hurdle. Only after clearing it does the Academy's own screening test, interview, and medical process become the differentiator.

Camino Prep's calendar tracks NDA's 78RC application and screening-test dates. Check the exam calendar for current deadlines.