JAMB Says Admissions Outside CAPS Risk Exclusion from Matriculation List

JAMB has warned candidates against accepting admissions outside CAPS, saying such offers are illegal and may not be recognised. 

The Board said only candidates whose admissions are processed through CAPS and backed by an official JAMB admission letter will be regarded as duly admitted. It warned that those who accept “backdoor” admissions risk being excluded from the official matriculation list, which serves as the record of legitimate students.

Speaking during the 2026 Annual Education Summit of the Education Correspondents Association of Nigeria (ECAN) in Abuja, JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, represented by the Board’s Public Communication Adviser, Dr. Fabian Benjamin, said institutions that admit candidates outside the approved process are acting unlawfull

He explained that once a candidate accepts admission through CAPS and prints the admission letter, the individual’s details are automatically added to JAMB’s matriculation list.

“We have made it abundantly clear. For you to be regarded as duly admitted, you must print your JAMB admission letter. If an institution gives you admission through the back door without JAMB documentation, that is an illegal admission,” he said.

He also stressed that universities cannot admit students beyond their approved carrying capacities, noting that any admission exceeding the approved quota would be considered invalid.

JAMB further advised candidates to verify the authenticity of their admissions and avoid institutions that bypass the official process.

“If a programme has approval to admit 50 students, it cannot admit 51. That extra candidate becomes an illegal admission because the name will not appear on the matriculation list,” he stated.

The Board also urged students to safeguard their SIM cards, describing them as vital identity tools in Nigeria’s computer-based examination system.

“Your SIM card is your identity. Once you lose control of it, you may lose everything linked to your identity. Candidates must protect their SIM cards because they are now unique identifiers,” he said.

Meanwhile, the National Universities Commission (NUC) announced plans to strengthen oversight of universities by conducting post-matriculation inspections to ensure compliance with approved admission quotas.

“We are determined to stop the abuse. After every matriculation exercise, NUC will visit universities to verify that institutions have not exceeded their approved admission quotas,” he said.

The Commission also disclosed that it would intensify monitoring of Artificial Intelligence use in universities to promote ethical and responsible adoption in teaching, learning and research.