The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has moved to clear widespread confusion surrounding registration for the 2026 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) and Direct Entry (DE), following what it described as deliberate misinformation circulated by some education commentators.
In a statement issued on Wednesday and signed by its Public Communication Adviser, Dr Fabian Benjamin, the Board clarified that candidates who are already enrolled in tertiary institutions are permitted to register for the 2026 UTME or Direct Entry.
However, JAMB stressed that such candidates must openly declare their current matriculation status during registration. According to the Board, failure to make this disclosure could attract serious consequences, including the forfeiture of both the existing admission and any new admission that may be offered.
The clarification followed reports and online commentaries suggesting that undergraduates were barred from participating in the 2026 examination process — a claim JAMB described as false and misleading. Benjamin explained that the misinformation stemmed from a distortion of the Board’s official advertisement for the 2026 UTME/DE exercise.
“The attention of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board has been drawn to a misleading and unfortunate distortion of a portion of the Board’s clear directives to candidates registering for the 2026 UTME/DE,” he said. He added that the misrepresentation was being promoted by “unscrupulous self-styled education advocates” pursuing personal interests rather than public enlightenment.
JAMB reiterated that its policy is designed to ensure transparency in the admission process and prevent candidates from holding multiple admissions across institutions without proper documentation. The Board advised candidates and parents to rely solely on official JAMB communications to avoid errors that could jeopardise their academic future.
