The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has announced the end of admissions into affiliated degree programmes run by colleges of education across Nigeria, beginning from the 2026/2027 academic session.
The decision, contained in JAMB’s newly released NCE/ND Agric Registration Guidelines issued by the Office of the Registrar in June 2026, marks a significant shift in the country’s teacher education system.
Under the new policy, all admissions into colleges of education will now be through the Nigeria Certificate in Education (NCE) programme, effectively making it the sole entry route into the institutions.
JAMB stated that no admissions into 100-level or 200-level degree programmes would be permitted in any college of education from the 2026/2027 academic session.
“With effect from 2026/2027 session, no admission into 100 or 200 Level is allowed into any college of education. All entrants are through NCE,” the board said.
The move brings an end to the long-standing arrangement that allowed colleges of education to award bachelor’s degrees through affiliations with conventional universities.
To ease the transition for candidates who had already selected affiliated colleges of education for degree programmes through Direct Entry, JAMB outlined several alternatives. Affected candidates may change their institution of choice free of charge, transfer to the parent university affiliated with the degree programme, or elevate their second-choice institution to first-choice status for admission processing.
According to the board, candidates who wish to remain in the degree programme may be moved to the parent university responsible for the affiliation.
Similarly, candidates seeking admission through the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) into affiliated colleges of education have been given the option of changing institutions, upgrading their second-choice institution to first choice, or migrating to the NCE programme.
JAMB explained that candidates opting for the NCE route would need to obtain an O’Level verification code from the relevant examination body and pay a registration fee of N700 through the board’s portal.
“The candidate may be moved to the NCE programme of the institution, on the understanding that the choice of the college of education indicated an interest in pursuing the NCE qualification,” the board noted.
The board also introduced mandatory O’Level verification for all NCE applicants, with verification fees fixed at N1,500 for one sitting and N2,000 for two sittings.
JAMB urged colleges of education, Institutional Professional Registration Centres (IPRCs), accredited Computer-Based Test (CBT) centres and its officials nationwide to familiarise themselves with the new guidelines and ensure strict compliance.
The board further clarified that every application for NCE admission would be regarded as a deliberate choice and that candidates recommended for NCE admission would automatically have any ongoing UTME or Direct Entry admission process suspended.
The new policy is expected to reshape teacher education in Nigeria by reinforcing the NCE as the foundational qualification for entry into the teaching profession and ending the era of degree admissions through affiliated colleges of education.
