The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has directed all candidates to fully declare their previous registration and admission history, stressing that non-disclosure could attract sanctions.
The directive comes amid concerns over examination malpractice during last year’s Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
Speaking on Saturday at a meeting with Commissioners for Education in Lagos ahead of the 2025 UTME and Direct Entry exercises, JAMB Registrar, Professor Ishaq Oloyede, emphasised that it is a criminal offence for a student to pursue more than one undergraduate programme concurrently, and failure to disclose prior admissions would be punishable.
The registrar noted that candidates must be at least 16 years old by September 30, 2026, to be eligible for UTME.
Underage candidates would undergo a rigorous assessment, including evaluation of UTME, A’Level, PUTME, and SSCE results, and must score at least 80 per cent in each component to qualify for a waiver.
Oloyede also announced that the sale of UTME application documents (ePINs) would begin ahead of registration, with registration slated for January 26 to February 28, 2026, at all approved Computer-Based Testing (CBT) centres.
He added that the mock selection exercise closes on February 16, while Direct Entry application documents will be available from March 2 to April 25.
Unlike the previous year, results for underage candidates will only be released after completion of the full evaluation process.
To ensure transparency, all participating CBT centres will be monitored live from JAMB headquarters.
Centres whose registration activities cannot be verified remotely will not be paid, and their registration activities may be invalidated.
Currently, 924 centres have been screened and provisionally listed, pending final accreditation.
The registrar stressed that candidates are not required to pay any service charge to any CBT centre.
On candidate postings, he clarified that JAMB does not assign candidates to any town other than their chosen location.
Candidates who select a group of towns may be posted to any town within the group, and he encouraged early registration to avoid losing preferred slots.
Oloyede urged candidates and parents to comply strictly with the rules to ensure a smooth and credible examination process.
