JAMB insists public varsities must conclude 2026/27 admissions by October 31

 The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) says the October deadline for public universities to conclude their admission processes remains sacrosanct.

 

In a statement on Monday, the board noted that at the 2026 policy meeting on admissions, stakeholders agreed that admissions for the 2026/2027 academic session should be concluded on or before October 31 for public universities.

 

The deadline for private university admissions was fixed for November 30, while the deadline for admissions into other tertiary institutions was fixed for December 31.

 

“Consequently, all admissions for the 2026/2027 academic session are expected to be concluded by 31 December 2026,” the board said.

 

 

JAMB noted that the Central Admissions Processing System (CAPS) is now fully operational after being temporarily unavailable for about 96 hours.

 

While apologising for any inconvenience caused by the temporary unavailability of the platform, the board said the disruption was due to an administrative challenge involving its hosting organisation.

 

JAMB urged all institutions to immediately accelerate their admission processes to recover the time lost and ensure compliance with the admission deadlines agreed at the 2026 Policy Meeting on Admissions.

 

 

“With CAPS now fully operational, institutions are expected to intensify their admission processes, while candidates are equally advised to promptly accept admission offers made to them. This is necessary to ensure that the agreed admission timelines are met,” the statement reads.

 

The board said private universities are similarly expected to work towards concluding their admissions by 30 November 2026, thereby allowing other categories of tertiary institutions sufficient time to complete their admission processes by the end of December.

 

JAMB advised candidates who were awaiting the release of their NECO results to immediately upload and/or verify their results to ensure that their credentials are available for consideration as institutions intensify their admission processes.

 

“Beyond the immediate restoration of the platform, the Board is also putting in place measures to further strengthen the resilience, stability and reliability of CAPS,” the statement added.

 

 

“These include medium- to long-term redundancy and business-continuity measures designed to reduce dependence on any single hosting or service environment and minimise the risk and impact of future disruptions.”