Are you planning to sit for the 2026 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME)? Before registration, there are few important things every candidate must understand to avoid mistake that can affect a candidate admission chance.
In this guide, we will outline and breakdown five key thing every candidate must know before registering for the 2026 UTME to enable you stay ahead and prepare the smart way.
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UTME 2026: JAMB Issues Registration Instructions to Prospective Candidates
JAMB 2026 UTME Important Dates and Registration Procedures
- Admission Status declaration: Recently the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) announced that candidates will be required to declare their current admission status, proving they have not been offered admission into any institution. This means that only candidates who have not been offered admission before will be eligible to sit for the 2026 UTME and be considered for admission.
This was one of the key measures adopted by JAMB to curb admission malpractice and to minimize impersonation as the Board maintained that UTME is for candidates seeking admission and not for students already enrolled. - Understand UTME Result Ranking: Starting from 2025, the UTME went beyond just the score. The UTME result ranking was introduced by JAMB. Now candidates are given national position alongside other candidates, showing their performance and academic strength to enable institutions make informed decision when giving admission.
Candidates should aim for a higher UTME score to improve their ranking and consolidate thier admission advantages. - Avoid personal data error. The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board has strongly warned that some personal information are not correctable after UTME registration. Therefore, candidates must ensure that they make all corrections to their personal data (if any) such as date of birth, state of origin and local government with the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) on time and confirm that all details are correct before registering for the 2026 UTME.
- Avoid Subject Combination Error: A lot of candidates failed to gain admission because of incorrect UTME subject combination. accurate UTME subject combination is a significant step to success in the 2026 UTME. Use our official UTME subject combination tool to get accurate subject combination for over 100 plus subjects for free.
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