ABSTRACT 

The study comparatively examined students’ performance in English Language and Mathematics in Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) using Paper Pencil Test (PPT) and Computer Based Test (CBT) in Abia State for the period 2013 and 2014. Four research questions were answered while four hypotheses were tested. The study adopted ex-post facto research design. The population of the study was 244,714 comprising of all UTME candidates who sat for English language and mathematics across the three educational zones of the states for the period of four years. Due to the format of the data for the study, the entire population of 244,714 was involved in the study, hence, there was no sampling. The instrument for data collection is a proforma showing the 2013 and 2014 UTME scores in English language and mathematics of those who wrote the examination Abia State using paper pencil test (PPT) and computer-based test (CBT). The data collected were analysed using mean and standard deviation for answering the four research questions while the four hypotheses were tested using t-test statistics at 0.05 level of significance. Based on the data collected and analysed, the study found that: the use of CBT slightly increased the performance of UTME students in English Language than the use of PPT, with the mean difference score of male and female students examined with PPT to be 3.82 in favour of female students while the mean difference score of male and female students examined with CBT to be 13.72 in favour of male students. In addition, the result of the study showed that the mean difference score of male and female students examined with PPT was 11.41 in favour of male students while the mean difference score of male and female students examined with CBT was 29.39 in favour of male students in mathematics. The results of the study on the hypotheses tested showed that there is significant difference between the mean performance scores of male and female students examined with CBT in English Language UTME, there is significant difference between the mean performance score of students examined with PPT and CBT in UTME mathematics, there is significant difference between the mean performance scores of male and female students examined using PPT in UTME Mathematics, there is significant difference between the mean performance scores of male and female students examined with CBT in UTME mathematics. Based on these findings, the study among others recommended that there should wide adoption of CBT examination mode in Nigerian education system and that there should be adequate provision for all the required materials and facilities for effective use of CBT mode of examination