Nigeria’s Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has announced that all candidates registering for the 2026 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) will now be required to declare whether they are already students in any tertiary institution.
According to the JAMB bulletin, this new requirement is aimed at tackling impersonation and other forms of examination malpractice. The board said investigations from the 2025 UTME showed that more than 90 percent of candidates caught for exam-related offences were already students of universities, polytechnics or colleges of education who attempted to sit for UTME again for illegal advantages.
JAMB stated that any candidate who fails to make a truthful declaration or who is later found to have lied, will face serious consequences. These may include cancellation of their UTME registration, withdrawal of any previous admission, and possible prosecution.
The board said the UTME is intended mainly for fresh admission seekers, and stressed that those already admitted into tertiary institutions must not sit for the examination without proper disclosure.
JAMB described the directive as early notice to the public, adding that it will not tolerate any attempt to compromise the credibility of Nigeria’s admission process.