JAMB Announces deadline for 2026 UTME

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has announced that registration for the 2026 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) will officially be closed on 26 February. However, the Board clearly  reiterates that no extension will be granted beyond the stipulated deadline.

The UTME is an annual Computer-Based Test (CBT) used to rank candidates seeking admission into Nigerian tertiary institutions. Nearly two million candidates sit the examinations annually.
This year’s sales of e-PINs, which commenced on 26 January, would end by midnight on Thursday, 26 February, the board said in a statement by its spokesperson, Fabian Benjamin.

According to This Day, the statement said registration for candidates who have already obtained their e-PINs will end on Saturday, 28 February.
“The board wishes to clearly state that there will be no extension of the registration deadline,” JAMB said.

“The board has a daily registration capacity of 100,000 candidates, yet registration centres across the country are currently operating at barely 30 per cent of that capacity. This indicates that a significant number of prospective candidates are yet to take advantage of the opportunity to register.”
The board said its registration window is strategically scheduled to enable other examination bodies to conduct their own exercises immediately afterwards, leaving no room for any extension.

JAMB said it has registered 1.5 million candidates for the 2026 UTME as of Tuesday, 17 February.