The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has announced a major policy shift in Nigeria’s teacher education system by terminating admissions into affiliated degree programmes run by Colleges of Education nationwide.
The directive, contained in the board’s newly released registration guidelines for the 2026/2027 academic session, establishes the Nigeria Certificate in Education (NCE) as the exclusive qualification and entry route into these institutions.
Under the new guidelines issued by the Office of the Registrar, JAMB banned direct admissions into 100 and 200 levels across all Colleges of Education.
The board emphasized that all incoming students must enroll specifically through the NCE track, effectively ending decades of partnerships where conventional universities used these colleges to award bachelor’s degrees.
Recognizing that the sudden policy transition will disrupt the plans of thousands of candidates already seeking degree admissions in the 2026 cycle, JAMB outlined transitional options for both Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) and Direct Entry (DE) applicants.
Affected Direct Entry candidates have been given until Monday, June 22, 2026, to utilize the following paths:
* Apply for a free change of institution.
* Transfer directly to the main campus of the parent university to which their chosen degree was initially affiliated.
* Elevate their second-choice institution to their primary option.
Similarly, UTME candidates seeking 100-level admission can choose to modify their institutional choice or fully migrate into the NCE stream of their selected college. For those selecting the NCE pathway, JAMB noted that their details will automatically transfer. Candidates will only need to obtain an O’Level verification code and pay a minimal ₦700 registration fee on the board’s portal.
The guidelines also introduce a mandatory O’Level verification fee for all prospective NCE candidates, set at ₦1,500 for a single sitting and ₦2,000 for applicants combining two sittings.
JAMB cautioned that choosing the NCE pathway is considered a definitive choice. Consequently, once a candidate is recommended for NCE admission, any alternative or concurrent UTME or Direct Entry processing will be immediately suspended.
The board has instructed all accredited Computer-Based Test (CBT) centers, registry officers, and institutional heads to enforce compliance strictly.
