The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) is reviewing the structure and purpose of the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) as Nigeria continues to introduce changes to the way students enter higher education.

The latest review goes beyond the annual examination timetable and admission cut-off marks. JAMB is examining whether the UTME should place greater attention on areas such as critical thinking, life skills and other competencies that may help assess candidates beyond conventional subject-based testing.

The development comes under the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, whose government has introduced a series of education policies affecting admission requirements, examination procedures and access to tertiary institutions.

JAMB Registrar, Professor Segun Aina, disclosed the examination review in September 2026 when he inaugurated a committee made up of education stakeholders and experts to examine possible changes to the UTME. The review is intended to consider whether the existing examination adequately serves its central purpose in the admission system.

The discussion is taking place against the background of an important distinction in Nigeria’s education system. Candidates already sit for senior secondary school certificate examinations administered by bodies such as the West African Examinations Council and the National Examinations Council. JAMB, by contrast, is responsible for the UTME and the central admission process.

Aina said the review would consider whether JAMB should continue concentrating largely on subject-based testing when other examination bodies already assess candidates for subject certification. The proposed review could therefore lead to a clearer separation between secondary school certification and the examination used to rank candidates for tertiary admission. (thetimes.com.ng)

No final replacement structure for the UTME has been announced. The current exercise is a review process, meaning proposed changes should not be presented as an already approved new examination format.

For students preparing for future UTME examinations, this distinction matters. Candidates should continue to follow the official JAMB requirements for the applicable examination year until the board formally announces any new structure.

The review is only one part of a wider set of changes affecting tertiary admissions.

For the 2026/2027 admission cycle, the Federal Government and tertiary education stakeholders retained a minimum admissible UTME score of 150 for universities. The benchmark was also set at 150 for colleges of nursing, while polytechnics, monotechnics, colleges of agriculture and colleges of education have a minimum benchmark of 100. Innovation Enterprise Institutions also have a minimum of 100. Individual institutions can set higher requirements for their programmes.

The government also retained 16 years as the general minimum age for admission into tertiary institutions. JAMB’s 2026 guidelines state that candidates must generally be at least 16 by September 30, 2026. There is a limited route for exceptionally qualified candidates below that age, subject to additional assessment and demanding academic benchmarks.

The age policy has become one of the more closely watched changes in recent admission cycles. Under the current rules, being allowed to participate in the UTME does not automatically mean that an underage candidate qualifies for admission.

JAMB released the 2026 UTME results of underage candidates in September, but clarified that making those results available for viewing did not itself confer admission eligibility. Candidates below the prescribed age remain subject to the conditions established for exceptional admission. (channelstv.com)

Another significant change concerns candidates seeking admission into Nigeria Certificate in Education programmes.

At the 2026 policy meeting on tertiary admissions, the Federal Government announced that candidates seeking admission into NCE programmes in colleges of education would no longer be required to sit for UTME. Candidates would instead need to meet the stipulated O’Level requirements for the programme. (channelstv.com)

That decision changes the role JAMB plays in one area of tertiary education admissions. It also forms part of a broader effort by policymakers to reconsider how different categories of tertiary institutions admit students.

The reforms have not removed JAMB from the wider admission system. CAPS, the Central Admissions Processing System, remains the platform through which admissions are processed and monitored. At the 2026 policy meeting, the Federal Government also stated that admissions conducted outside CAPS would not be recognised.

The continuing importance of CAPS became particularly clear in September when the platform experienced a technical outage. JAMB confirmed that the system had temporarily become unavailable because of technical difficulties associated with its hosting arrangements and said it was working with the relevant organisation to restore access.

The incident showed how heavily the admission process now depends on digital systems. Candidates use CAPS to monitor admission decisions, while institutions rely on the platform for important stages of the admission process.

JAMB is also making changes to its handling of candidate information. In September 2026, the board announced that it had lifted its previous restriction on SIM swapping and registered email changes for candidates. The new arrangement allows eligible candidates who have lost access to their registered telephone numbers or email accounts to update those details through a controlled verification process.

JAMB said the change was made possible by stronger identity and biometric verification measures. The service is subject to authentication procedures and can only be used once, according to the board’s announcement.

Taken together, these changes show that the current reform discussion is not limited to the questions that appear on the UTME examination paper. It also involves candidate identification, admission processing, age requirements, institutional responsibilities and the relationship between different examination and certification systems.

The proposed UTME review could become particularly important if JAMB ultimately changes the balance between academic subject testing and broader skills assessment. Such a move would need to be carefully designed because the UTME is used to rank a very large number of candidates competing for limited places across Nigerian tertiary institutions.

Any change would also have implications for secondary school students and teachers. If the examination eventually gives greater weight to critical thinking or other competencies, preparation for the test could change. However, JAMB has not yet announced that such a change has been adopted as the new examination standard.

For now, the existing UTME remains in place while the committee considers possible reforms.

The review also raises a broader question about the purpose of an entrance examination. Secondary school certificate examinations already measure students’ knowledge across individual subjects. JAMB’s position, as reported during the launch of the review, is that the board’s admission role is primarily concerned with ranking candidates for available places rather than duplicating the certification work performed by other examination bodies. (thetimes.com.ng)

That distinction could influence any recommendations eventually submitted by the review committee.

For students, the immediate advice is straightforward: do not rely on social media claims that the UTME has already been replaced or radically changed. The board has begun a review, but a review is not the same as a final policy decision.

Candidates preparing for the next examination cycle should continue to use JAMB’s official announcements for registration requirements, eligibility rules, subject combinations and examination procedures. The board’s official information also directs candidates to verify the correct UTME subject combinations for their intended programmes before registration.

The reforms are unfolding at a time when Nigeria is trying to address several longstanding pressures within tertiary education, including access, admission management and the relationship between examination performance and university placement.

Whether the current UTME review eventually produces a new examination model will depend on the recommendations of the committee and subsequent decisions by the relevant education authorities. For now, the confirmed development is that JAMB has started examining how the examination can better serve its role in the tertiary admission process.

That makes the coming months important for students, schools and tertiary institutions. Any formal change to the UTME structure could affect how candidates prepare, how institutions assess applicants and how JAMB carries out its responsibility of ranking students for admission.

Until such changes are officially approved and published, however, the existing UTME rules remain the operative requirements for candidates.