The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, has announced a major overhaul of the admission process into Colleges of Education nationwide, declaring that all candidates seeking admission into the institutions from the 2026/2027 academic session must enter through the Nigeria Certificate in Education, NCE, route.
Under the new policy, admissions into 100 and 200 levels of Colleges of Education will no longer be permitted, while degree admissions through affiliated colleges will also cease from the 2026/2027 session.
The directive was contained in fresh registration and admission guidelines issued by JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, outlining the procedures for NCE and non-technology agriculture-related National Diploma programmes.
According to the guidelines, candidates will only be processed through one mode of admission at a time. JAMB stated that applicants who choose the NCE route and are subsequently recommended for admission will have any ongoing Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME, or Direct Entry, DE, admission process suspended.
“With effect from the 2026/2027 session, no admission into 100 or 200 Level is allowed into any College of Education. All entrants are through NCE,” the Board stated.
JAMB also directed that admissions into affiliated degree programmes in Colleges of Education would no longer be allowed from the same academic session, a move aimed at streamlining admission procedures and strengthening compliance with regulatory requirements.
To enhance the credibility of admissions, the Board introduced a mandatory O’Level result verification process for all NCE applicants. Candidates are required to obtain verification codes from recognised examination bodies, including WAEC, NECO, NABTEB and NBAIS, before commencing registration.
The Board explained that verification codes would cost N1,500 for one sitting and N2,000 for two sittings, with the verification outcome automatically integrated into the Central Admissions Processing System, CAPS, for admission consideration.
JAMB further disclosed that every College of Education has been designated as an Institutional Professional Registration Centre (IPRC) to facilitate candidate registration in addition to accredited Computer-Based Test centres.
Under the new framework, candidates must select only Colleges of Education as their first, second and third choices during registration.
Applicants awaiting O’Level results will be allowed to register but cannot be recommended for admission until their results are uploaded and verified.
The Board also unveiled a regularisation window for candidates who secured admissions into Colleges of Education outside approved JAMB processes during the 2024/2025 and 2025/2026 academic sessions.
Such candidates are required to undergo result verification and complete registration through the Board’s platform to have their admissions processed.
For candidates who applied through the 2026 UTME and selected Colleges of Education or non-technology agriculture-related ND programmes, JAMB said their details would automatically be migrated to the new admission framework, requiring only profile updates and payment of a N700 registration charge.
The guidelines also provide transition options for Direct Entry and UTME candidates who selected affiliated Colleges of Education for degree programmes, including transfer to parent universities, change of institution, or migration to NCE programmes, depending on individual preferences.
Oloyede also directed all registration centres, institutional officers and stakeholders to study the guidelines carefully and ensure strict compliance, noting that the procedures have been published on JAMB’s website, College of Education portals, NCCE platforms and other official channels nationwide.
