By Ngozi Nwankwo
Federal Ministry of Education has announced the abolition of Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination “UTME” as a requirement for entry into Nigerian Certificate in Education,NCE, programmes in Colleges of
Education as well as National Diploma,ND, Non-Technology Agriculture and Agriculture-related
programmes in Polytechnics and Colleges of Agriculture nationwide.
The approval followed a stakeholders’ meeting convened by the Minister of
Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa on 30th April, 2026, as part of Government’s efforts to address restrictive admission processes which has further contributed to the growing number of out-of-school adolescents, limited access to tertiary education opportunities, and low participation in critical teacher education and agricultural manpower development programmes.
The Ministry said in line with Government’s commitment to expanding access to tertiary education, promoting teacher education, strengthening agricultural training, and improving the efficiency, transparency
and coordination of admission processes into Colleges of Education, Polytechnics and Monotechnic, the following implementation guidelines have been approved for immediate
compliance.
It said, “It is important to note however, that, all prospective candidates will still be required to obtain the
Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board,JAMB, application form and process their admissions
through the JAMB platform, CAPS.
“In addition, all admissions shall be conducted strictly through
the JAMB Central Admission Processing System, CAPS, while existing minimum admission requirements remain unchanged.
“The new guidelines further provide that all applicants must upload their O’Level results on the JAMB portal as part of the admission process. Consequently, all admission letters for the affected
programmes shall continue to be issued exclusively by JAMB upon due verification and compliance with prescribed admission requirements.”
Speaking further, the Ministry explained that as part of measures to address previous admissions conducted outside CAPs by Colleges of Education, government has also approved a one-time retroactive condonement exercise for only NCE students admitted into NCE programmes in Colleges of Education for both years I & II at the 2025/2026 session.
According to the ministry, the condonement exercise will take place from 1st June to 30th August, 2026 and will cover eligible students transitioning from Year One to Year Two, as well as those moving from Year Two
to Year Three at the end of 2025/2026 session.
It urged all affected Colleges of Education to upload details of eligible students admitted outside CAPS within the stipulated period to ensure
proper documentation on the JAMB platform.
The Federal Government also reiterated that, henceforth, any admission conducted outside the JAMB Central Admission Processing System,CAPS, shall be regarded as illegal and void.
“Accordingly, Provosts, Rectors and other Principal Officers of affected institutions are directed to immediately cease the issuance of institutional admission letters to prospective students,” it said.
The Ministry further assured the public that periodic monitoring and compliance exercises will be undertaken in collaboration with JAMB, the National Commission for Colleges of Education,NCCE, the National Board for Technical Education,NBTE, and other relevant regulatory agencies
to ensure full implementation of this guideline policy.
