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Education

How JAMB, the UTME and University Admission Actually Work

Passing the UTME does not get you admitted. Four more steps sit between the score and the offer, and candidates lose places at every one of them.

By Hausa Daily News Editorial Desk · · 3 min read

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board runs the single national entry examination for Nigerian universities, polytechnics, colleges of education and colleges of nursing. Getting from the exam to an actual admission letter involves five stages, and candidates fall out at each one.

Stage one: registration

You buy an e-PIN, then register with your National Identification Number and biometrics. Registration without a NIN is not possible.

2026 fees:

Item Cost
UTME without mock ₦7,200
UTME with mock ₦8,700
Direct Entry ₦5,700

The UTME fee breaks down as: application fee ₦3,500, compulsory reading text ₦1,000, CBT registration ₦700, CBT service charge ₦1,500, bank charges ₦500, plus the optional mock at ₦1,500.

2026 dates: e-PIN vending ran 19 January to 26 February; registration 26 January to 28 February; the mock UTME on 28 March; and the UTME itself from 16 to 25 April 2026. Direct Entry document sales and registration ran 2 March to 25 April, at JAMB state and zonal offices only.

Stage two: the exam

Computer-based, four subjects, 400 marks total. Use of English is compulsory; the other three depend on your intended course.

Stage three: the cut-off marks

An annual National Policy Meeting on Admissions sets the national minimum. For the 2026 cycle, agreed in Abuja on 11 May 2026:

  • Universities: 150
  • Polytechnics: 100
  • Colleges of education: 100
  • Colleges of nursing sciences: 150

These are floors, not targets. Institutions set their own departmental cut-offs above them, and competitive courses — medicine, law, engineering at the larger universities — routinely require scores far higher.

Stage four: post-UTME screening

Institutions run their own screening. The practice was abolished in 2016 and restored in 2017, and institutions retain discretion over its form — some run a written test, others screen on documents alone.

Candidates awaiting O-level results must upload them to the JAMB portal before they can be considered.

Stage five: CAPS

Every offer is processed through the Central Admissions Processing System. Institutions propose candidates on the platform, the institutional head — Vice-Chancellor, Rector or Provost — approves, and then the candidate must log in to accept or reject the provisional admission.

This last step catches people out every year. An offer sitting unaccepted on CAPS is not an admission. Check the portal.

The age rules

Candidates must be at least 16 by 30 September of the admission year. JAMB confirmed on 22 September 2026 that 16 remains the minimum for the 2026/2027 session. One outlet reported the May 2026 policy meeting had set 18; that appears to be an error, but if it matters to your case, confirm with JAMB directly.

Under-16 candidates face a demanding exception route, announced in August 2025: at least 320 out of 400 in the UTME (80%), at least 80% in post-UTME, and at least 80% in a single sitting of WAEC or NECO — 24 of 30 points. Results from two exam bodies cannot be combined. Dedicated post-UTME plus affective and psychomotor screening applies even where a school has otherwise suspended post-UTME. Meeting all of it still confers no automatic right to admission.

The 2025 resit

Worth knowing because it shaped how JAMB now communicates.

In 2025, questions in the "LAG vehicle" — covering the south-west, south-east and some northern states — were not properly shuffled. A correction was attempted, but technical staff failed to update some delivery servers in the Lagos and Owerri zones.

379,997 candidates across 157 of 882 centres were affected: 65 centres and 206,610 candidates in the Lagos zone, 92 centres and 173,387 candidates in the Owerri zone. A resit began on 16 May 2025, coordinated with WAEC to manage clashes.

Registrar Is-haq Oloyede apologised publicly: "I apologise and take full responsibility."

Frequently asked questions

Does 150 guarantee a university place? No. It is the national floor. Departmental cut-offs are set by institutions and are usually much higher.

Can I register without a NIN? No.

I scored well but got no admission. Why? Check CAPS. An offer may be waiting for you to accept it. If none has been made, your score was likely below the departmental cut-off, or the institution's quota filled.

Is Direct Entry the same exam? No. Direct Entry is for candidates with a qualifying higher qualification, and it is registered separately, in person.

Sources

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