2026 UTME Registration Opens January 26 — JAMB
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has announced that registration for the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) will run from January 26 to February 28 at approved Computer-Based Test (CBT) centres across the country.
Addressing Commissioners for Education in Lagos at a meeting, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, JAMB Registrar, explained that the sale of application documents (ePINs) would begin before the actual registration period.
“The sale of UTME application documents will start from January 19 to February 26, while actual registration will take place between January 26 and February 28,” he said.
The Registrar also disclosed that candidates who wish to take part in the mock examination must complete their selection by February 16. Meanwhile, the sale of Direct Entry (DE) application documents and ePINs will run from March 2 to April 25.
Prof. Oloyede added that, unlike last year, the results of underage candidates will only be released after the full evaluation process is completed, to ensure proper assessment of waiver requests.
Speaking on monitoring, he said all CBT centres involved in registration would be supervised live from JAMB headquarters, adding that Centres that fail to provide live access risk having their registrations invalidated and will not be paid.
He disclosed that 924 centres have been provisionally approved, but will still undergo final testing before full accreditation.
The Registrar stressed that candidates are not required to pay any service charges at CBT centres, noting that only the official registration fees approved by JAMB should be paid.
Addressing concerns about examination postings, he clarified that candidates will only be posted to towns they selected during registration, though they may be assigned to any town within their chosen group and advised candidates to register early, as late registration could limit their options.
Prof. Oloyede also warned candidates to honestly declare any previous registration or admission history, stating that running more than one undergraduate programme at the same time is a criminal offence and will be sanctioned.
On age requirements, he said only candidates who will be at least 16 years old by September 30, 2026, are generally eligible for admission.
However, underage candidates may be considered for waivers if they pass a rigorous evaluation and score at least 80 per cent in the UTME/A’LEVEL, PUTME, SSCE, and the exceptional candidate assessment.
He urged candidates to comply strictly with all guidelines to avoid disqualification.
