Mataram, University of Mataram – University of Mataram (Unram) continues to be the place for the 2025 Computer-Based Written Test (UTBK) for the National Selection Based Test (SNBT). This year, a significant increase in the number of participants who choosed Unram as the exam location, totaling 18.6% percent compared to last year.

According to the Head of Academic and Student Affairs Bureau of Unram, Dwi Suswanto, S.Kom., M.M., this increase made the total number of participants who took UTBK at Unram reached 14,476 people. Due to the high number of participants, the central committee of the National Selection of New Student Admissions (SNPMB) added one extra day of UTBK implementation at Unram, from the original schedule of April 23-May 3 to May 4, 2025.

“This year there was a significant increase in participants, so we were given an additional day of UTBK ,” he said when interviewed by Unram PR team, Sunday, 4th May 2025

UTBK participants at Unram are dominated by participants from West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), but the number of participants from other provinces continues to increase. Provinces such as Banten, Jakarta, East Java, West Java, Center Java, Riau Archipelago were recorded to have contributed to the number of participants who chose Unram, both as an exam location and as a choice of study program.

Dwi Suswanto said that the increasing interest from outside NTB could not be separated from the attractiveness of a number of excellent study programs offered by Unram, such as Medical Education, Pharmacy, Informatics Engineering, Accounting, and Management.

“A lot of participants from other regions choose Unram because they see a greater chance of qualifying compared to universities in their home areas where the competition is extremely tight. In addition, Unram is also now more recognized nationally because of its achievements, accreditation of study programs, and university rankings at the international level,” explained Dwi, who is also the Vice Head of the Unram UTBK Committee.

Another factor that encourages increased interest is the tuition fees at Unram which are considered relatively affordable compared to a number of state universities in the western region of Indonesia.

The three most popular study programs in this year’s SNBT pathway in the science cluster are Pharmacy, Medical Education, and Informatics Engineering. As for the social sciences, the study programs with the highest demand are Management, Accounting, PGSD, and Communication Science. The Communication Science Study Program was also a study program that was mostly chosen in the previous SNBP pathway.

In terms of implementation, Unram has implemented Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) set by the central committee, including in terms of fraud prevention. Examinations are conducted strictly using metal detectors at all test location points, including checking participants’ shoes. In addition, supervision is intensively carried out by exam room supervisors to detect suspicious behavior during the exam.

“The role of supervisors is crucial during the implementation of UTBK. They must verify the participants, supervise the movements of participants from the beginning to the end of the exam, including observing if there are participants who look suspicious or stay too long without working on questions,” he added.

The attendance rate of UTBK participants at Unram reached an average of 97% per session. According to the Head of Bureau, some participants who did not attend may be due to lateness, have been accepted at other institutions, or decided to take the test at another location.

The last two days of UTBK implementation were also supervised by the Monitoring and Evaluation (Monev) team from the central committee, Dr. rer. nat. Asep Supriatna, M.Si. as the Quality Assurance Coordinator of the SNBP National Committee. The evaluation results showed that the implementation of UTBK at Unram went smoothly without any indication of fraud.

“The Monev team said that the implementation of UTBK at Unram had run very well and in accordance with the standard operating procedures (SOP) set, starting from the process of checking participants, the test, until the participants left the location. They also assessed that there were no findings of fraud. In terms of administration, the entire process of document handover is also assessed well and in line with the provisions,” he concluded.