The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has announced the commencement of the sale of registration forms for the 2026 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) and Direct Entry (DE) admissions for the 2026/2027 academic session.
The announcement was made in a post on JAMB’s official X handle on Tuesday night. In the statement signed by the Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, the Board said the UTME is open to “suitably qualified candidates for admission into Nigerian tertiary institutions for the 2026/2027 academic session.”
According to JAMB, registration for the UTME will begin in January 2026 and close in March 2026, with exact dates to be announced later. The Board disclosed that the UTME examination itself is scheduled to hold in April 2026.
“The period of registration for UTME candidates, including those from foreign countries, is from Monday, 26th January, 2026 to Saturday, 28th February, 2026,” the statement said.
JAMB further stated that candidates must have obtained their National Identification Number (NIN) before registering. It added: “Only candidates who will not be less than 16 years old by 30th September, 2026 are generally eligible to apply/be considered.”
However, the Board clarified that underage candidates could still be considered under strict conditions. “Candidates less than 16 years old by 30th September, 2026 will have to undergo an intensive evaluation to determine their eligibility for a waiver. Such must have scored not less than 80% in each of UTME/ALEVEL, PUTME, SSCE, and in the exceptional candidate assessment,” JAMB said.
It added that, “The UTME results of the underage candidates will be released only at the conclusion of the complete evaluation process.”
For Direct Entry candidates, JAMB announced that the sale of 2026 DE application documents and E-PIN vending will commence on Monday, 2nd March, 2026, and end on Saturday, 25th April, 2026. The Board noted that DE registration “would only be at the Board’s State and Zonal Offices.”
The Board also confirmed that the 2026 UTME will hold from Thursday, 16th April, 2026 to Saturday, 25th April, 2026, while the optional Mock-UTME is scheduled for Saturday, March 28, 2026.
