ADMISSION INTO SOCIAL SCIENCE COURSES: THE PLACE OF GEOGRAPHY EDUCATION AND GEOGRAPHY, UNIVERSITY OF LAGOS

Abstract

This paper focuses on admission into Social Sciences and Education courses in University of Lagos with regard to 
access and equity. University of Lagos is ranked as one of the 10 toughest Federal Universities to gain admission 
into in Nigeria today. However, the level of difficulty or ease of entry into University of Lagos or any federal 
University in Nigeria is dependent basically on the level of preparation, success at external examinations on the part 
of applicants and the admission requirement for the course of study. The research was carried out in University of 
Lagos, and primary data collected directly from the admissions office, senate building. From the data, it was 
observed that in the last five years (four sessions), admission into 100 level Education Geography was based on 
merit and has gradually decreased from 13 to 1 student, while the supplementary admissions still show a form of 
consistency over the years. To the effect that the Education Geography unit in the Department of Arts and Social 
Sciences/Social Science Education is populated based on supplementary admissions and change of course. For the 
cut-off marks based on quota/catchment, three of the years studied had a general merit score across board with no 
recourse to catchment (2018/2019, 2020/2021 and 2021/2022). Whereas, for Geography, candidates have been given 
admission mainly based on merit. The study showed that entry requirements for Education Geography and 
Geography are quite similar for both 100 level and direct entry for the last four academic sessions. The study 
concluded that there is still access and equity in the admission of students into both Education Geography and 
Geography in University of Lagos.