The Federal Government has moved to tighten Nigeria’s tertiary admission system by declaring that all admissions conducted outside the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board’s Central Admission Processing System (CAPS) will henceforth be regarded as illegal and void.
The directive is part of newly released operational guidelines for admissions into Colleges of Education and ND non-technology agriculture-related programmes beginning from the 2026/2027 academic session.
Under the new policy, all prospective candidates seeking admission into affected programmes must process their admissions strictly through the JAMB platform, while institutions have been directed to immediately stop issuing admission letters outside CAPS.
The government, however, approved a one-time retroactive condonement exercise for students already admitted outside CAPS into NCE programmes during the 2025/2026 session.
According to the guidelines, the amnesty window will run from June 1 to August 30, 2026, allowing eligible Year One and Year Two students in Colleges of Education to regularise their admissions by uploading their records to the JAMB portal.
The Ministry explained that the move became necessary following concerns over undocumented admissions and irregular admission practices in some institutions.
“All admissions into affected programmes shall continue to be processed strictly through JAMB CAPS,” the document stated, adding that institutions that fail to comply risk having such admissions invalidated.
The policy also introduces UTME exemptions for candidates seeking admission into NCE programmes as well as ND non-technology agriculture and agriculture-related programmes. Instead of sitting for UTME, candidates will now apply directly through JAMB.
Despite the exemption, applicants are still expected to obtain JAMB application forms, upload their O’Level results, and process admissions through the official platform before consideration.
Education stakeholders say the development signals another major attempt by the Federal Government and JAMB to centralise admission documentation, improve transparency, and curb the growing problem of irregular admissions across tertiary institutions.
The guidelines further revealed that JAMB will now exclusively issue admission letters for all affected programmes after verification and compliance checks, while periodic monitoring exercises will be carried out in collaboration with the National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE), National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), and other regulatory agencies.
The government maintained that institutions must retain existing minimum admission requirements even under the new framework.
The latest reforms come amid broader efforts to sanitise Nigeria’s tertiary education admission process following repeated concerns over fake admissions, undocumented students, and certificate irregularities within the system.
