By The Federal Government has scrapped the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) requirement for candidates seeking admission into Nigerian Certificate in Education (NCE) programmes and selected National Diploma (ND) agriculture-related courses across the country.
The decision, announced by the Federal Ministry of Education in a press release dated May 12, 2026, will take effect from the 2026/2027 academic session.
According to the ministry, the policy affects admissions into Colleges of Education as well as ND non-technology agriculture and agriculture-related programmes offered in Polytechnics and Colleges of Agriculture nationwide.
The Ministry said the move followed a stakeholders’ meeting convened by the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, on April 30, 2026.
The government explained that the reform is aimed at widening access to tertiary education and addressing barriers that have contributed to the growing number of out-of-school youths and declining enrolment in teacher education and agricultural training programmes.
“The Federal Government has abolished Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination ‘UTME’ Examination as a requirement for entry into Nigerian Certificate in Education (NCE) programmes,” the statement read.
Despite the removal of UTME, the Ministry clarified that candidates must still obtain JAMB application forms and process admissions through the Central Admission Processing System (CAPS).
The government also stressed that all applicants would still be required to upload their O’Level results on the JAMB portal, while admission letters would continue to be issued exclusively by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB).
The Ministry warned institutions against conducting admissions outside CAPS, declaring such admissions “illegal and void.”
“Any admission conducted outside the JAMB Central Admission Processing System (CAPS) shall be regarded as illegal and void,” the statement added.
As part of the new measures, the Federal Government also approved a one-time condonement exercise for NCE students admitted outside CAPS during the 2025/2026 session.
The exercise, scheduled to run from June 1 to August 30, 2026, will cover eligible students in Years One and Two in Colleges of Education
The Ministry said the initiative would help regularise undocumented admissions and ensure proper student records on the JAMB platform.
Under the new operational guidelines, candidates seeking admission into NCE programmes will apply through JAMB without sitting for UTME, while the same exemption applies to ND non-technology agriculture and agriculture-related programmes.
The Ministry added that monitoring and compliance exercises would be carried out in collaboration with JAMB, the National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE), the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), and other regulatory agencies.
