The Federal Government has abolished the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) requirement for candidates seeking admission into Nigerian Certificate in Education (NCE) programmes and National Diploma (ND) non-technology agriculture and agriculture-related programmes in Polytechnics and Colleges of Agriculture nationwide.
The new policy, announced by the Federal Ministry of Education on Tuesday, will take effect from the 2026/2027 academic session.
The government said the decision followed a stakeholders’ meeting convened by the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, on April 30, 2026, as part of efforts to address restrictive admission processes that have contributed to the increasing number of out-of-school adolescents and low participation in teacher education and agricultural training programmes.
According to the ministry, candidates seeking admission into the affected programmes will no longer be required to sit for UTME before applying through the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB).
However, the ministry clarified that prospective students must still obtain JAMB application forms and process their admissions through the JAMB Central Admission Processing System (CAPS).
Director of Press and Public Relations in the ministry, Boriowo Folasade, stated that all existing minimum admission requirements remain in place, while applicants would also be required to upload their O’Level results on the JAMB portal before being considered for admission.
She added that admission letters for all affected programmes would continue to be issued exclusively by JAMB after due verification and compliance checks.
The Federal Government also approved a one-time retroactive condonement exercise for NCE students admitted outside CAPS during the 2025/2026 academic session.
The exercise, scheduled to run from June 1 to August 30, 2026, 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 the session.
Colleges of Education were directed to upload details of eligible students admitted outside CAPS within the stipulated period to ensure proper documentation on the JAMB platform.
The ministry warned that admissions conducted outside CAPS henceforth would be regarded as illegal and void.
Consequently, Provosts, Rectors and other principal officers of affected institutions were directed to immediately stop issuing independent admission letters to prospective students.
The ministry further disclosed that periodic monitoring and compliance exercises would be carried out jointly by the Federal Ministry of Education, 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 the policy.
The Federal Government reaffirmed its commitment to expanding access to quality tertiary education, strengthening teacher education, revitalising agricultural training and improving transparency, efficiency and accountability in the nation’s admission process.
