UTME registration begins January 26, says JAMB

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board has announced that registration for the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination will take place between January 26 and February 28 at all approved Computer-Based Test centres nationwide.

Speaking in Lagos on Saturday at a meeting with Commissioners for Education ahead of the 2025 UTME and Direct Entry exercises, the JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, explained that the sale of UTME application documents would begin earlier than the actual registration.

He said, “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.”

Oloyede further disclosed that the mock examination selection would close on February 16, while the sale of Direct Entry application documents and ePIN vending would commence on March 2 and end on April 25.

“The close of mock selection is February 16 hile the sale of DE application documents and E-PIN vending will commence on March 2, and close by April 25,” he said.

The registrar added that, unlike last year, the UTME results of underage candidates would only be released after the completion of the entire evaluation process.

He said this was to ensure proper assessment of candidates seeking age waivers.

On monitoring, Oloyede stated that all CBT centres participating in the UTME registration exercise would be monitored live from JAMB headquarters.

He warned that “any centre whose registration activities cannot be viewed from the headquarters will not be paid, while such registration may be invalidated.”

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He revealed that 924 centres had been screened and provisionally listed, noting that they would still undergo a final test before being fully accredited to participate in the UTME registration and examination.

“They will go through the final test before final accreditation,” he said.

The JAMB boss also clarified that candidates are not required to pay any service charge to CBT centres, stressing that registration fees approved by the board remain the only payments required.

Addressing concerns about distant posting, Oloyede said JAMB does not post candidates to examination towns other than those selected during registration.

He advised candidates to register early, noting that late registration could limit their chances of securing their preferred towns.

“The choice of a group of towns implies that candidates can be posted to any of the towns in the chosen group,” he added.

Oloyede further warned candidates to declare their previous registration and admission history with the board, explaining that some candidates were involved in examination malpractice during the conduct of last year’s UTME.

He noted that it is a criminal offence to run more than one undergraduate programme concurrently.

“Failure to disclose such prior admission is an offence which will be sanctioned,” he said.

On age requirements, the registrar stated that only candidates who will be not less than 16 years old by September 30, 2026, are generally eligible to apply for the UTME and be considered for admission.

He, however, explained that underage candidates would undergo a rigorous evaluation process to determine eligibility for a waiver.

He said, “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.”