The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, or JAMB, says candidates who are already enrolled in tertiary institutions may register for the 2026 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination and Direct Entry, provided they formally declare their matriculation status.
The board warned that candidates who fail to disclose their status risk losing both their current admission and any new admission secured through the examination.
The clarification was contained in a statement issued Wednesday by JAMB’s public communication adviser, Fabian Benjamin. He said the board’s directive had been misrepresented by what he described as “self-styled education advocates,” creating confusion among candidates and parents.
Benjamin said the controversy stemmed from a distortion of JAMB’s guidelines as outlined in the 2026 UTME and Direct Entry advertisement.
“This deliberate misrepresentation is being propagated by some unscrupulous self-styled education advocates for parochial interests,” he said.
He noted that similar misunderstandings often arise at the start of each registration cycle, accusing some commentators of spreading false information without properly reading or understanding the guidelines.
“Many of them do not take the time to read or properly understand the guidelines, yet hastily rush to the public space with false narratives aimed solely at attracting traffic to their social media platforms,” Benjamin said.
He stressed that registering for the UTME or Direct Entry while enrolled in another institution is not prohibited under JAMB regulations, but failing to declare such status constitutes an offence.
