Between 2015 and 2026, the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) recorded a total of 22,537,451 candidates who registered for both the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) and Direct Entry (DE), according to a report obtained on Saturday.
The data showed that UTME made up the majority of registrations, with about 21.26 million candidates, while Direct Entry accounted for roughly 1.28 million applicants. The figures were still being updated as the 2026 DE registration was ongoing.
In 2015, “1,644,072 candidates registered in 2015, comprising 1,475,600 UTME candidates and 168,472 DE applicants.” The following year, 2016, saw a slight increase to 1,764,859 total registrations, with UTME and DE recording 1,592,462 and 172,397 respectively.
By 2017, “A total of 1,882,559 candidates registered in 2017 cycle, including 1,722,269 for UTME and 160,290 for DE.” In 2018, numbers dropped to 1,793,018, with UTME at 1,653,127 and DE at 139,891.
The trend rose again in 2019, reaching 1,989,682 candidates, before increasing further in 2020 to 2,110,623. However, 2021 recorded a decline to 1,428,209 total registrations.
In 2022, the figures rebounded to 1,859,532, while 2023 dropped again to 1,635,673. Growth resumed in 2024 with 2,040,018 registrations, followed by 2,093,329 in 2025.
For 2026, the report stated that “For 2026, the board recorded 2,295,877 total registrations, consisting of 2,243,245 UTME and 52,632 DE candidates.”
Meanwhile, stakeholders approved new admission benchmarks for tertiary institutions, setting 150 as the minimum score for universities, 100 for polytechnics and colleges of education, and 150 for Colleges of Nursing for the 2026/2027 academic session.
