Topics JAMB tests every year
1. Comprehension & Summary
- Three passages per paper — read the questions first, then the passage.
- Look out for tone, author's purpose and figurative meaning.
- Summary questions reward concise paraphrasing, not copying.
2. Lexis & Structure
- Antonyms and synonyms — focus on words used in context.
- Concord rules (subject–verb, pronoun–antecedent).
- Phrasal verbs and idiomatic expressions.
3. Oral English
- Vowel sounds (pure & diphthongs) and consonant sounds.
- Stress patterns: word stress and sentence stress.
- Rhymes and emphatic stress — common JAMB trick area.
4. Recommended Novel
- Read the JAMB-prescribed novel for the year cover-to-cover.
- Know the characters, themes, plot and setting in detail.
- Practise past questions on the novel — they repeat across years.
Study tips that actually move your score
- Read one short article daily to build comprehension speed.
- Keep a vocabulary notebook — 5 new words a day, with example sentences.
- Listen to the oral English sounds on YouTube; reading rules alone isn't enough.
- Time yourself: 1 minute per question on average.
Sample JAMB English question
Choose the option that best completes the sentence: "Neither the players nor the coach ____ pleased with the result."
- were
- are
- was
- have been
Answer: C. With "neither…nor", the verb agrees with the nearer subject ("coach", singular).