By Ngozi Nwankwo
Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, has commenced the conduct of 2026 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME, across the 36 states and Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Thursday.
JAMB confirmed that 2,243,816 candidates registered for the 2026 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination,UTME, marking a historic high in the number of applications.
The 2026 UTME is scheduled to run from Thursday, April 16, to Wednesday, April 22, 2026.
Nigerian Pilot gathered that the reason for this specific schedule is to accommodate over 2.2 million candidates across approximately 966 Computer-Based Test,CBT, centers nationwide. By spreading the exam over several days with up to four daily sessions, JAMB ensures that all registered students can access the necessary technology and facilities.
With many adjustments made by JAMB in preparation of the UTME, it is expected that the outcome of the conduct of 2026 UTME would be rated higher than previous examination since the inception of Computer-Based Test.
In its adjustment,JAMB has implemented specific changes for this year’s window which included a shift in the arrival time for the first session from 6:30 AM to 7:00 AM to reduce risks associated with early morning travel and improve candidate safety. The first session now officially starts at 8:30 AM and ends at 10:30 AM.
JAMB, while ensuring that 2026 UTME experience smooth and technical hitch-free had recently deleted 23 CBT centres following their poor performance during 2026 MocK- UTME for technical deficiencies.
The Board has also issued warnings to centres with minor technical issues, while one centre would no longer to be used in any of the Board’s examinations.
The Mock UTME, introduced to enable candidates familiarise themselves with the Computer-Based Test,CBT, environment, also serves as a critical platform for the Board to assess its level of preparedness. It provides an opportunity to identify centres that fall short of the required operational and technical standards.
On examination malpractice, the Board said this year’s examination features enhanced security measures designed to curb all forms of malpractice, warning candidates and centres owners to desist from any form of misconduct, as strict sanctions would be applied.
Speaking to our correspondent, the Centre Administrator of Peter Harvard International Schools, Kubwa , Mr Peter Agunloye, commended the JAMB’s effort in improving the examination system of Nigeria.
Expressing his satisfaction over the conduct of the 2026 UTME, Agunloye said, “I am impressed with the turnout. And the way our systems are working. Everything is working functionally. Students are very orderly. You can see them. So very orderly.
“The protocols, the protocol officers, they are here. All the personnel, they are all on ground. And it is moving smoothly.
So there is no cause for alarm. The security are doing their job. Students are so calm. There is no agitation, no pressure, nothing. The whole thing is moving as scheduled.”
While expressing his school’s readiness to partner with JAMB for smooth, fair and transparent examination, Agunloye also reffairmed commitment of the centre to operate within the standard JAMB.
” Like I said before that some centres used to have issues and some face delisting, so this is one of the reasons why we decided to throw in our hat and to fight all these anomalies in the system. So having come with that mindset, we already know that these are the challenges people are having. And what we do differently is to ensure that we have a backup system.
“Make sure that all the systems are running smoothly. We try to ensure that every system is functional. The networking system is optimal. So we are just prepared to avoid any challenges,” he said.
The Centre Administrator confirmed that all the candidates for the examination first session examination sat for the examination except two candidates that their finger print could not be detected during biometrics verification.
” This is our first time using the school for JAMB examination centre and as you can see, I am thrilled by the turnout of the candidates. In fact, the first session of of the exams that started 8:30 A.M is ongoing, and there is no issue except for this two girls that are having problems with their finger print. We have reported their cases to the JAMB headquarters, and waiting for response so we can reschedule them for another session,” he said.
