By Folaranmi Ajayi
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has directed all Nigerian public universities to complete their 2025 admission processes on or before October 31, 2025.
According to a schedule released in JAMB’s weekly bulletin on Monday, private universities are expected to wrap up admissions by November 30, 2025, while all other tertiary institutions, whether public or private, must conclude admissions by December 31, 2025.
The board explained that the directive aligns with resolutions reached at the 2025 Policy Meeting on Admissions, chaired by the Minister of Education, Olatunji Alausa. The measure, JAMB noted, is aimed at stabilising the nation’s academic calendar and ensuring fair access to admission opportunities across institutions.
“Following the directives issued at the 2025 Policy Meeting chaired by the Honourable Minister of Education, all tertiary institutions have been instructed to conclude their admission processes by the end of 2025 according to the approved schedule,” the bulletin stated.
JAMB also emphasised that institutions conducting post-UTME screenings must complete the exercises in good time to comply with the admission timetable. Even institutions not immediately commencing new sessions were advised to finalise admissions and archive them.
The 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) results were released in May. The exam, scored over 400 marks, assesses candidates in four subjects—Use of English being compulsory—while the other three subjects depend on the candidate’s chosen course of study.
Between 2020 and 2024, over 8.9 million candidates sat for the UTME, but only about 2.7 million secured admission into various tertiary institutions, leaving millions of others to re-register and retake the examination in subsequent years.