As prospective candidates commence registration for the 2026 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME, the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, has withdrawn the special concessions and registration arrangements previously granted to persons with albinism, citing abuse of the privilege for examination malpractice.
The Board also called on faith-based institutions to clearly state their identity from the beginning, warning that presenting themselves as secular to attract applicants and later enforcing religious practices amounts to deception.
These resolutions were reached on Saturday during a meeting between JAMB’s management, led by the Registrar, Prof. Isaq Oloyede, and Commissioners for Education from the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The meeting held in Ikeja, Lagos, was aimed at reviewing and evaluating past examination exercises.
Oloyede explained that despite the numerous measures put in place by the Board, certain individuals remained determined to undermine the system.
“We have stopped some concessions we gave albino candidates. This is because some are using Artificial Intelligence to manipulate the registration process to look like they are albinos because of the consideration we gave them. Last year alone, over 7,000 claimed to be albinos. We have stopped special registration procedures for albinos.”
Addressing complaints from students admitted into some private institutions over religious teachings and regulations, Oloyede urged such schools to be transparent about their status.
His word: “Faith-based institutions should declare from the onset what they are, so that whoever applies there will know what he is going to meet there, but some don’t do that. They will pretend to be secular, but once students are admitted, trouble will begin over religious instruction and injunctions. If you are a faith-based institution, say so. The law allows you to set up faith-based schools.”
Referring to last year’s discovery that the highest-scoring candidate was already a 300-level university student, the JAMB Registrar said investigations revealed that some undergraduates sit for the examination either to change courses or to assist others in gaining admission.
“Students who are already in school but want to change courses and are applying again must declare and disclose their status. We have found that some candidates already in school are writing the examination for other candidates. Last year, the candidate who scored the highest, out of curiosity, we did a background check on him and found out that he was a 300-level student in the university. Henceforth, any candidate who is found engaging in such an act, and who failed to disclose that he is already in school but wants to change course, will be disqualified and also lose his current admission,” he added.
On admission benchmarks, Oloyede clarified that federal institutions apply a 45 per cent merit criterion, 20 per cent for catchment areas, 20 per cent for educationally disadvantaged states, with the remaining percentage allocated to others.
He noted that while each state or institution owner is free to determine its admission policy, states were encouraged to reserve at least 10 per cent for merit admissions to promote diversity and attract outstanding candidates from different regions.
Oloyede also criticised states establishing new universities while failing to fill their quotas in existing federal institutions.
Speaking on underage candidates, he said, “There is attestation to be signed for underage candidates. Last year, we had about 42,000 claiming to be underage. After evaluation and assessment of their claims, only 78 met the criteria and were admitted to universities. We are not saying there are no talented candidates, but the figure here looks outlandish.
“For now, 16 years is the admission age, and if anybody is not up to that age, he has to meet the requirement of scoring 80 per cent in the UTME and the post-UTME screening. Some people are saying there should be something that can be done to fill the gap year before they are old enough to be admitted at 16 years. Going by the country’s education policy, and if people stick to the rules, most students should be close to 16 before the admission year.”
The issue of underage candidates sparked debate at the meeting, with some participants suggesting that the Board create structured activities for such candidates during the gap year.
However, after the matter was put to a vote, the majority supported JAMB’s decision to continue with the special assessment process for underage candidates.
The meeting observed that parental pressure for children to complete their education quickly was a major contributing factor to the problem.
On measures to curb examination malpractice, Oloyede disclosed that computers registered to a particular CBT centre would no longer be moved elsewhere.
“A computer that is registered in a particular centre will remain there and is not transferable to another centre. Some people, because they want their centres to be accredited, would go and borrow computers from different sources, and after we have thought they are qualified and accredited them, then they will be moving the computers from one place to the other,” he said.
He also reiterated that JAMB does not assign candidates to towns they did not select during registration.
“We don’t post candidates to towns they did not choose. Name, state and other vital information of a candidate are obtained from the NIN they submit for registration. We don’t misspell names because we don’t tamper with that.”
Providing an update on last year’s UTME, Oloyede revealed that 974,855 candidates have so far secured admission out of approximately 1.95 million who sat for the examination.
He added that the Board had disbursed over N2.4 billion to institutions that consistently complied with its regulations over the past decade.
The meeting also agreed that schools producing the best-performing candidates should receive compensation.
On the accreditation of CBT centres, Oloyede said the process is carried out by a team that includes a university vice-chancellor, rector and provost in each state.
He cautioned state governments against entering agreements with private CBT centre operators who may exploit such partnerships to facilitate examination malpractice.