The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has outlined new monitoring measures, age eligibility rules and registration timelines ahead of the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) and Direct Entry exercises.
Speaking in Lagos on Saturday at a meeting with Commissioners for Education, the JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, announced that UTME registration will run from January 26 to February 28 at all approved Computer-Based Test (CBT) centres nationwide.
He clarified that the sale of UTME application documents, known as the ePIN, will begin before the registration window.
“The sale of UTME application document which is the ePIN, will start earlier than commencement of actual registration which is January 19 to February 26. Actual UTME registration period is between January 26 to Febuary 28 at all approved CBT Centres,” he said.
Oloyede disclosed that mock examination selection would close on February 16, while the sale of Direct Entry (DE) application documents and ePIN vending would commence on March 2 and end on April 25.
“The close of mock selection is February 16 while the sale of DE application documents and E-PIN vending will commence on March 2, and close by April 25,” he added.
He announced tighter oversight of registration centres, stating that all CBT centres would be monitored live from JAMB headquarters.
“Any centre whose registration activities cannot be viewed from the headquarters will not be paid, while such registration may be invalidated,” he warned.
According to the registrar, 924 centres have been screened and provisionally listed, but will still undergo a final test before full accreditation. “They will go through the final test before final accreditation,” he said.
On payments, Oloyede said candidates are not required to pay any service charge to CBT centres, stressing that only fees approved by the board are payable.
He also addressed complaints about posting to distant examination locations, stating that candidates would not be posted outside the towns selected during registration.
“The choice of a group of towns implies that candidates can be posted to any of the towns in the chosen group,” he explained, advising early registration to avoid limited options.
The registrar warned candidates to declare any previous registration or admission history, noting cases of malpractice during the previous UTME and stressing that it is a criminal offence to run more than one undergraduate programme at the same time.
“Failure to disclose such prior admission is an offence which will be sanctioned,” he said.
On age eligibility, Oloyede stated that candidates must be at least 16 years old by September 30, 2026, to be considered for admission.
He added that underage candidates would only be considered after a rigorous assessment process.
“Underage candidates who will be less than 16 years old by 30th September, 2026, will undergo an intensive evaluation to determine their eligibility for a waiver, and such candidates must have scored not less than 80 per cent in each of UTME/A’LEVEL, PUTME, SSCE and in the exceptional candidate assessment.”
He also disclosed that, unlike last year, the UTME results of underage candidates would only be released after the full evaluation process had been completed, to ensure proper assessment of those seeking age waivers.
Guardian Newspaper
