How you can register for the 2026 UTME: A step-by-step information

Registration for the 2026 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME)  started with the sale of e-PINS on Monday, January 19, 2026. Full registration opened on Monday, January 26, 2026 and can finish on Saturday, February 28, 2026. The five-week window covers practically two million candidates who should create on-line profiles and full biometric seize at accredited computer-based check (CBT) centres.

A number of new guidelines apply to this 12 months’s train below the “No Imaginative and prescient, No Registration” coverage launched by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) Registrar, Professor Is-haq Oloyede. Each computer-based check centre should livestream all registration actions to the board’s headquarters in Abuja, a measure aimed toward curbing extortion, impersonation, and knowledge breaches.

 Candidates should even be at the very least 16 years outdated by September 30, 2026, to qualify for college admission, a requirement which JAMB says helps guarantee college students are prepared for greater schooling.

Right here is all the pieces it is advisable to find out about registering for the 2026 UTME.

How you can register for the 2026 UTME on-line

You can begin your 2026 UTME registration on-line earlier than going to any CBT centre. This step hyperlinks your identification, telephone quantity, and NIN to JAMB.

What to test earlier than you begin

• Your particulars on the Nationwide Identification Administration Fee (NIMC) database should be appropriate, together with your title, date of start, gender, and state of origin
• JAMB pulls this knowledge immediately, so you can not change it at a CBT centre

Use your personal telephone quantity

• You have to use one private quantity for the entire course of
• This quantity receives your profile code, your ePIN, and all JAMB messages

Get your profile code

• Ship your 11-digit NIN by SMS to 55019 or 66019
• Use this format: NIN 00123456789
• You’re going to get a 10-character profile code by SMS
• In case you used UTME earlier than, ship RESEND to 55019 or 66019 to reactivate your outdated code

Select your examination and pay

• Decide UTME with mock, UTME with out mock, or Direct Entry
• The associated fee is N8,700 for UTME with mock, N7,200 for UTME with out mock, and N5,700 for Direct Entry
• Pay via financial institution apps, POS, or fintech apps like OPay, PalmPay, or Kuda
• You can even use BuyCard together with your profile code

Get your e PIN

• After fee, JAMB sends your ePIN by SMS to your telephone
• In case you lose it, ship UTMEPIN or DEPIN to 55019 or 66019

Preserve your SIM energetic

• In case you purchased a brand new SIM, ask your community to activate the Preserve My Quantity service
• This retains your quantity energetic for as much as three years

Arrange your e mail

• Create a private e mail tackle
• You’ll use it on your JAMB e-facility account, examination slips, and CAPS admission checks

How you can register for the 2026 UTME offline

You have to go to a JAMB-approved CBT centre to complete your 2026 UTME registration. That is the place your biometrics and examination selections are confirmed in particular person.

The place to go

• Go to solely JAMB-approved CBT centres, skilled registration centres, or JAMB state and zonal workplaces
• Don’t use non-public cybercafés or unapproved locations as a result of your registration may be canceled

What to take

• Your 10-character profile code
• Your e PIN
• You don’t pay any further charges on the centre as a result of it’s already included within the e PIN

What you’ll do on the centre

• Fill a paper template together with your first, second, third, and fourth selections of colleges and programs
• Give your fingerprints for all ten fingers to cease impersonation
• Take a stay photograph utilizing accredited Microsoft or Digitech cameras, which hyperlinks to the NIMC database
• Your centre should stream this stay to JAMB below the No Imaginative and prescient coverage

Add and examination location

• You probably have WAEC or NECO outcomes, the operator uploads them
• In case your consequence shouldn’t be prepared, select Awaiting End result and add later
• Select your examination city, and JAMB will place you in a centre inside that zone

Ultimate checks

• Use the twin display to see all the pieces being typed
• Verify your title and topic selections earlier than you approve
• Verify together with your thumbprint

After registration

• You’re going to get a printed registration slip together with your particulars and topic mixture
• Assortment of Obligatory Studying Supplies: After profitable registration, you might be entitled to gather the prescribed studying textual content, “The Lekki Headmaster” by Kabir Alabi Garba and the JAMB CD containing the brochure and syllabus

Complete 2026 UTME/DE registration and examination timeline

The desk under exhibits the important thing dates for the 2026 cycle. You have to comply with these dates as a result of the system will shut down merchandising and registration on the finish of every interval.

Essential issues to know earlier than and after you register

The 2026 UTME is strict, and small errors can stop you from gaining admission, even when your rating is excessive. It’s essential get your particulars proper from the beginning and test your JAMB account frequently after you register.

What you have to have earlier than you register

• Your 11-digit NIN that matches the NIMC database
• One private telephone quantity that no different candidate has used
• Your O Degree outcomes with grades and dates, or for Direct Entry, your earlier matric quantity and college particulars
• Cash to pay for the ePIN, as a result of as soon as you purchase it, JAMB doesn’t give refunds

Frequent errors that trigger issues

• Utilizing henna or laali in your fingers, which might cease the scanner from studying your fingerprints and get you blocked from the examination
• Choosing the mistaken topic mixture, reminiscent of leaving out Arithmetic for Science or Expertise programs
• Utilizing a couple of NIN to create a number of profiles, which the JAMB software program will detect and cancel
• Having completely different names in your NIN and O Degree consequence, which faculties can reject except you repair it at NIMC earlier than getting your profile code

What to do after you register

• Print your examination slip seven to 10 days earlier than the examination to see your date, time, and session
• Log in to the Central Admissions Processing System (CAPS) to simply accept or reject admission presents, as a result of any provide not accepted inside 4 weeks may be taken away
• Use TEMPL007 re-query course of if you happen to up to date your NIMC particulars after creating your JAMB profile, so JAMB can pull the brand new knowledge
• If you’re a Direct Entry candidate, watch your e facility web page to see when your Nationwide Built-in Submit-Secondary Schooling Information System (NIPEDS) test exhibits CLEARED