JAMB Biology Syllabus 2026/2027: Topics, Objectives & Study Guide

Q: How many questions does JAMB set in Biology?

JAMB sets 40 multiple-choice questions in Biology, each carrying equal marks for a total of 100 marks. Only Use of English has more (60 questions); every other subject follows this 40-question pattern, and your four subjects together make 180 questions and 400 marks.

Q: How long is the exam and how much time per question?

The whole UTME lasts two hours (120 minutes) for all four subjects combined — about 40 seconds per question on average. Pace yourself: answer the questions you know quickly, flag the hard ones, and come back to them.

Q: What textbooks are recommended for JAMB Biology?

The syllabus recommends standard texts such as Modern Biology for Senior Secondary Schools (Ramalingam) and College Biology (Ndu, Ahiakwo & Anya). Any complete SSS Biology textbook covering the syllabus areas works well alongside diagrams and practice questions.

Subject overview

The aim of the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) syllabus in Biology is to prepare the candidates for the Board’s examination. It is designed to test their achievement of the course objectives, which are to:

questions in Biology

100

marks (of 400 total)

Official syllabus Content is taken from the official JAMB UTME syllabus (IBASS). Last checked: 17 Sept 2026. Always confirm at jamb.gov.ng.

Your progress

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General objectives

The Biology syllabus is designed to test candidates' ability to:

1. demonstrate sufficient knowledge of the concepts of the diversity, interdependence and unity of life;
2. account for continuity of life through reorganization, inheritance and evolution;
3. apply biological principles and concepts to everyday life, especially to matters affecting living things, individual, society, the environment, community health and the economy.

How this paper is examined

JAMB Biology is a Computer-Based Test of 40 multiple-choice questions worth 100 marks. There is no negative marking, so attempt every question. It is taken with Use of English and two other subjects, for 180 questions in two hours overall.

How to use this syllabus: don't just read it — turn each topic into a checklist. Study a topic, then immediately practise questions on it so the knowledge sticks. Give extra time to the sections that carry the most topics, and revisit weak areas with timed practice as the exam approaches.

Practise as you learn: Belmadeng CBT practice is expanding across subjects. Explore CBT practice →

Not started

E: EVOLUTION · Study

Full Biology syllabus

Every section and topic below is from the official JAMB syllabus, reproduced faithfully.

A: VARIETY OF ORGANISMS

1. Living organisms:

a. Characteristics
b. Cell structure and functions of cell components
c. Level of organization
i. Cell e.g. euglena and paramecium,
ii. Tissue e.g. epithelial tissues and hydra
iii. Organ e.g. onion bulb
iv. Systems e.g. reproductive, digestive and excretory
v. Organisms e.g. Chlamydomonas

2. Evolution among the following:

a. Monera (prokaryotes), e.g. bacteria and blue green algae.
b. Protista (protozoans and protophyta),
e.g. Amoeba, Euglena and Paramecium.
c. Fungi, e.g. mushroom and Rhizopus.
d. Plantae (plants)
i. Thallophyta (e.g. Spirogyra).
ii. Bryophyta (mosses and liveworts) e.g.
Brachmenium and Merchantia.

3. Structural/functional and behavioural

adaptations of organisms:
a. adaptive colouration and its functions
b. Behavioural adaptations in social animals
c. Structural adaptations in organisms

B: FORM AND FUNCTIONS

1. Internal structure of a flowering plant

i. Root
ii. Stem
iii. Leaf
b. Internal structure of a mammal

2. Nutrition

a. Modes of nutrition
i. Autotrophic
ii. Heterotrophic
b. Types of Nutrition
c. Plant nutrition
i. Photosynthesis
ii. Chemosynthesis
iii. Mineral requirements (macro and micro-nutrients)
d. Animal nutrition
i. Classes of food substances; carbohydrates, proteins, fats and oils, vitamins, mineral salts and water
ii. Food tests (e.g. starch, reducing sugar, protein, oil, fat etc.)
iii. The mammalian tooth (structures, types and functions)
iv. Mammalian alimentary canal

3. Transport

a. Need for transportation
b. Materials for transportation (Excretory products, gases, manufactured food, digested food, nutrient, water and hormones)
c.
Channels for transportation
i. Mammalian circulatory system (heart, arteries, vein and capillaries) ii Plant vascular system (phloem and xylem)
d. Media and processes of mechanism for transportation.

4. Respiration

a. Respiratory organs and surfaces
b. The mechanism of gaseous exchange in:
i. Plants
ii. Animals
c. Aerobic respiration
d. Anaerobic respiration
xix. identify the general characteristics of digestive enzymes
xx. associate enzymes with digestion of carbohydrates, proteins and fats and
xxi. determine the end products of these classes of food.

5. Excretion

a. Types of excretory structures:
contractile vacuole, flame cell, nephridium, Malpighian tubule, kidney, stoma and lenticel.
b. Excretory mechanisms:
i. Kidneys
ii. lungs
iii. skin
c. Excretory products of plants

6. Support and movement

a. Tropic, tactic, nastic and sleep movements in plants
b. supporting tissues in animals
c. Types and functions of the skeleton
i. Exoskeleton
ii. Endoskeleton
iii. Functions of the skeleton in animals

7. Reproduction

a. Asexual reproduction
i. Fission (e.g., Paramecium)
ii. Budding (e.g., yeast)
iii. Natural vegetative propagation
iv. Artificial vegetative propagation
b.
Sexual reproduction in flowering plants
i. Floral parts and their functions
ii. Pollination and fertilization
iii. products of sexual reproduction
c.
Reproduction in mammals

8. Growth

a. Meaning of growth
b. Germination of seeds and condition necessary for germination of seeds.

9. Co-ordination and control

a. Nervous coordination:
i. the components, structure and functions of the central nervous system
ii. The components and functions of the peripheral nervous system
iii. Mechanism of transmission of impulses
iv. Reflex action
b.
The sense organs
i. Skin (tactile)
ii. Nose (olfactory)
iii. Tongue (taste)
iv. Eye (sight)
v. Ear (auditory)
c. Hormonal control
i. animal hormonal system (Pituitary, thyroid, parathyroid, adrenal gland, pancreas, gonads)
ii. Plant hormones (phytohormones)
d. Homeostasis
i. Body temperature regulation
ii. Salt and water regulation
x. relate the effects of the mother’s health, nutrition and indiscriminate use of drugs on the developmental stages of the embryo up to birth.
xi. explain the modern methods of regulating reproduction on
e.g., invitro fertilization and birth control

C: ECOLOGY

1. Factors affecting the distribution of

Organisms
i. Abiotic

2. Symbiotic interactions of plants

and animals
(a) Energy flow in the ecosystem: food chains, food webs and trophic levels.
(b) Nutrient cycling in nature.
i. carbon cycle
ii. water cycle
iii. Nitrogen cycle

3. Natural Habitats

(a) Aquatic (e.g., ponds, streams, lakes, seashores and mangrove swamps)
(b) Terrestrial/arboreal (e.g., tree-tops, abandoned farmland or a dry grassy (savanna) field, and burrow or hole.

4. Local (Nigerian) Biomes

a. Tropical rainforest
b. Guinea savanna (southern and northern)
c. Sudan Savanna
d. Desert
e. Highlands of montane forests and grasslands of the Obudu -, Jos -, Mambilla - Plateaus.

5. The Ecology of Populations

(a) Population density and overcrowding.
(b) Adaptation for survival
i. Factors that bring about competition factors.
iii. describe how the activities of plants/animals (particularly human) affect the distribution of organisms.

6. SOIL

a. Characteristics of different types of soil (sandy, loamy, clayey)
i. soil structure
ii. porosity, capillarity and humus content
b. Components of the soil
i. inorganic
ii. organic
iii. soil organisms
iv. soil air
v. soil water
c. Soil fertility
i. loss of soil fertility
ii. renewal and maintenance of soil fertility

7. Humans and Environment

(a) Diseases:
(i) Common and endemic diseases
ii. Easily transmissible diseases and disease syndrome such as:
- poliomyelitis
- cholera
- tuberculosis
- sexually transmitted disease/syndrome (gonorrhea, syphilis, AIDS, etc.)
b.
Drug abuse:
i. Drug addiction
ii. Commonly abused drugs
iv. Determine niche differentiation as a means of reducing intra-specific completion.
v. Relate competition to succession.
vi. deduce the effect of these factors on the size of population.
vii. determine the interactions between biotic and abiotic factors, (e.g. drought or scarcity of water which leads to food shortage and lack of space which causes increase in disease rates).
viii. trace the sequence in succession to the climax stage of stability in plant population.

D: HEREDITY AND VARIATIONS

(I) Variation In Population

a. Morphological variations in the physical appearance of individuals.
(i) size (height and weight)
(ii) Colour (skin, eye, hair, coat of animals, scales and feathers).
(iii) Fingerprints
b.
Physiological variation
(i) Ability to roll tongue
(ii) Ability to taste phenylthiocarbamide (PTC)
(iii) Blood groups
c.
Application of discontinuous variation in crime detection, blood transfusion and determination of paternity.
x. determine the methods by which each pollutant may be controlled.
xi. explain the importance of sanitation with emphasis on solid waste, sewage disposal, community health and personal hygiene.
xii. assess the roles and functions of international and national health agencies e.g. World Health
Organization (WHO), United Nations
International
Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF),
International Red Cross Society (IRCS) and the ministries of health and environment.
xiii. apply the various methods of conservation of both the renewable and non-renewable natural resources for the protection of our environment for present and future generations.
xiv. outline the benefits of conserving natural resources, prevention of desertification.
xv. identify the bodies responsible for the conservation of resources at the national and international levels
e.g. Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF),
Federal Ministry of Environment, Nigeria
National
Parks, World Wildlife Foundation (WWF),
International Union for Conservation of Nature
(IUCN), United Nations Environmental
Programme (UNEP) and their activities.
xvi identify and state the location and importance of game reserves and National parks in Nigeria

2. Heredity

a) Inheritance of characters in organisms
(i) Heritable characters
(ii) Non-heritable characters
b) Chromosomes – the basis of heredity
(i) Structure
(ii) Process of transmission of hereditary characters from parents to offsprings.
c) Probability in genetics and sex determination.
d) Application of the principles of heredity in:
i) Agriculture
(ii) Medicine
e) Sex – linked characters e.g. baldness, haemophilia, colour blindness, etc.

3. Biotechnology

a) Application of Biotechnology in
(i) Agriculture
(ii) Medicine
(iii) Pharmaceuticals, and
(iv) Food industry

E: EVOLUTION

1. Theories of evolution

a) Lamarck’s theory
b) Darwin’s theory
c) organic theory

2. Evidence of evolution

Recommended next steps

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Frequently asked questions

How many questions does JAMB set in Biology?

JAMB sets 40 multiple-choice questions in Biology, each carrying equal marks for a total of 100 marks. Only Use of English has more (60 questions); every other subject follows this 40-question pattern, and your four subjects together make 180 questions and 400 marks.

How long is the exam and how much time per question?

The whole UTME lasts two hours (120 minutes) for all four subjects combined — about 40 seconds per question on average. Pace yourself: answer the questions you know quickly, flag the hard ones, and come back to them.

Is Biology compulsory in JAMB?

Use of English is the only universally compulsory subject. Biology is required for Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, the biological sciences, agriculture and related courses, so most science candidates in the health/life-science track take it.

How is the JAMB Biology syllabus structured?

The Biology syllabus is organised into broad areas covering the variety of organisms, form and functions, ecology, heredity and evolution, and the relevance of Biology to society. Each lists the topics to study and what you should be able to do.

What should I focus on most in Biology?

Cell biology, nutrition, transport, respiration, reproduction, ecology and genetics come up frequently. Learn diagrams you can label (the cell, the heart, the digestive and reproductive systems) and understand processes rather than memorising lists.

Does JAMB repeat past questions in Biology?

JAMB does not announce a policy of repeating questions, but the syllabus changes little from year to year, so the same topics and question styles recur. Studying strictly by the syllabus and practising many questions per topic is the dependable approach — never rely on 'expo', which is a scam.

Is there negative marking in JAMB Biology?

No. JAMB does not use negative marking, so a wrong answer scores zero with no penalty. Always attempt every question, even if you have to make an educated guess.

What textbooks are recommended for JAMB Biology?

The syllabus recommends standard texts such as Modern Biology for Senior Secondary Schools (Ramalingam) and College Biology (Ndu, Ahiakwo & Anya). Any complete SSS Biology textbook covering the syllabus areas works well alongside diagrams and practice questions.

Where can I find the official Biology syllabus?

The official source is the JAMB e-syllabus on the IBASS portal (jamb.gov.ng). The full topics are reproduced on this page for easy study, but always confirm the current syllabus on the official portal before your exam.

How can I practise Biology on Belmadeng?

Belmadeng offers free, timed CBT practice with worked explanations. Study a topic here, then test yourself — your weak topics are highlighted afterwards so you know exactly what to revise. Explore CBT practice to get started.

Source: official JAMB UTME Biology syllabus (IBASS, jamb.gov.ng). Reproduced for study use. Last checked: 17 Sept 2026. Belmadeng is not affiliated with JAMB — always confirm the current syllabus on the official portal.

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