Applications for the Commonwealth master’s scholarship for the 2024/25 academic year are now open in Nigeria.

The education ministry’s federal scholarship board, which coordinates such government-affiliated programmes, is calling for applications.

The Commonwealth scholarship is managed by the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission (CSC) in the UK and is led by international development objectives.

It is awarded to people with the potential to make a positive impact in their countries and on the global stage.

As part of the UK’s Commonwealth commitment, an estimated 700 students are annually sponsored to undertake postgraduate degrees.

To be eligible for the award, an applicant must be a citizen or permanent resident of a Commonwealth country, have an undergraduate degree of at least upper second class (2:1), and be unable to afford to study in the UK without a scholarship.

Candidates are either agency-nominated in their countries or nominated by non-governmental charitable bodies.

The federal scholarship board, while calling on Nigerians to apply for the CSC’s master’s and doctorate scholarships, said Nigerian candidates must additionally have a youth service exemption or discharge certificate.

It said applicants must have gotten at least two admissions from UK universities and print out their application form before submission.

The FSB said the applications are open from September 10 and will last until October 15, 2024.

In funding, the Commonwealth scholarship provides airfare for the scholar’s travel to and from the UK.

Their full fees are covered by an agreement between the CSC and the UK university.

To date, over 31,000 have taken up a Commonwealth scholarship or fellowship since the first group of 175 arrived in the UK in 1960.

The National Open University (NOUN) says it is working to address some glitches in its ongoing CBT examinations.

Students at NOUN, who are currently writing their exams, have raised concerns about glitches in their computer-based tests.

They sought an audience with the university management over outdated course materials and the crash of their website portal.

Checks by newsmen showed that the NOUN official website is down.

Olufemi Peters, the NOUN vice-chancellor, held a virtual meeting with the students about the varsity’s efforts to address the challenges.

He said the management is working to restore the institution’s website portal.

He said progress will be communicated via official NOUN emails.

The VC said the varsity is working to improve its logistics to enable seamless distribution of examination materials.

He said materials are being distributed across state capitals to solve the issue of logistics.

Peters also emphasised the importance of students adhering to examination guidelines.

“We understand the frustrations some of you face due to the use of outdated course materials during exams,” the professor said.

“This is a result of the three-year cycle we use for reviewing the question bank.

“The solution is not lost, and we will make the necessary adjustments.”

Peters revealed that there have been attempts by some parties to compromise the integrity of the university’s tutor-marked assignment (TMA) platform by using automated systems to generate responses.

He added that the management decided to adjust the scoring of the affected students to 100 marks, instead of the usual 70 or 60.

The National Examinations Council (NECO) has announced the release of the 2024 Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) results, which followed the completion of the marking exercise conducted from Monday, 19th August to Sunday, 8th September 2024.

The results were announced by NECO Registrar, Prof. Dantani Wushishi, at the council’s headquarters in Minna, Niger State, on Thursday.

The examination was held from Wednesday, 19th June to Friday, 26th July 2024, with over 1.3 million candidates sitting for the exam across Nigeria. The marking process was completed in less than a month, enabling the timely release of results.

Wushishi revealed that 1,376,436 candidates sat for the examination, with the results being made available about two months after the final exam. A total of 8,407 candidates were caught engaging in unethical practices. This marks a significant reduction compared to the 12,030 cases recorded in the 2023 examination.

Candidates can now check their results online through the NECO official website or via SMS. The online results system www.results.neco.gov.ng, allows for easy viewing of examination outcomes.

Ensure you have your NECO examination number, the examination year, a valid email address, and a NECO result checking token

To buy a NECO Result Checking Token(scratch card)  Visit the NECO Results website at https://result.neco.gov.ng. If you have an account, log in if not register by providing your details and select ‘Purchase Token’.

How to check the 2024 SSCE results through the online portal 

• Visit the NECO result-checking portal at https://results.neco.gov.ng/
• Select your examination year as “2024” and choose the type (SSCE Internal, SSCE External, BECE, NCEE, or GIFTED).
• Enter the token sent to the mobile number you provided during registration.
• Enter your registration number.
• Click on the “Check my result” button.

How to check your 2024 NECO result via text message (SMS) 

On your phone, type NECOExamNoPIN*ExamYear (without spaces). For example, if your exam number is 12345678AB, your PIN is 6864123459678, and you’re checking the 2024 result, your message should look like this:

NECO12345678AB6864123459678*2024

Send the message to the official NECO result-checking SMS number.

You will receive a text message containing your result.

Important Notes:

You can buy result token can also be bought from any accredited vendor.

Double-check that all information is typed correctly and that the message is sent to the official SMS number.

If you don’t receive your result after a few minutes, try sending the message again.

For any issues with checking your result, contact NECO customer support.