The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has abolished admissions into affiliated degree programmes offered by Colleges of Education across Nigeria, a move that effectively restores the Nigeria Certificate in Education (NCE) as the exclusive entry pathway into the institutions from the 2026/2027 academic session.
The directive was contained in JAMB’s newly released NCE/ND Agric Registration Guidelines issued by the Office of the Registrar in June 2026.
Under the new policy, the Board declared that no fresh admissions would be conducted into degree programmes run by Colleges of Education in affiliation with universities beginning from the 2026/2027 admission cycle.
“With effect from 2026/7 Session, no admission into 100 or 200 Level is allowed into any College of Education. All entrants are through NCE,” JAMB stated in the guidelines.
The decision marks a significant shift in Nigeria’s teacher education framework and brings to an end a long-standing arrangement that allowed Colleges of Education to award university degrees through partnerships with conventional universities.
For decades, affiliated degree programmes enabled students to earn bachelor’s degrees while studying in Colleges of Education under the supervision of partner universities.
The new policy, however, eliminates that route for prospective students seeking admission from the 2026/2027 academic session.
The reform is expected to affect thousands of candidates who had applied for degree programmes through affiliated Colleges of Education during the ongoing admission exercise.
To ease the transition, JAMB outlined several alternatives for candidates who had already chosen affiliated Colleges of Education for degree programmes through Direct Entry.
According to the Board, affected candidates may switch to another institution free of charge, transfer to the parent university overseeing the affiliated degree programme, or allow their second-choice institution to become their first-choice option for admission processing.
“A candidate may choose to be moved to the parent university to which the Degree programme is affiliated,” the Board explained.
JAMB further announced that candidates wishing to make changes to their institution choices had until June 22 to complete the process.
Candidates seeking admission through the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) into affiliated Colleges of Education have also been provided with options.
They may change institutions, elevate their second-choice institution to first choice, or migrate to the NCE programme offered by the college.
The Board noted that candidates who opt for the NCE pathway would be required to obtain an O’Level verification code from the relevant examination body and pay a registration fee of ₦700 through the JAMB portal.
“The candidate may be moved to the NCE programme of the institution, on the understanding that the choice of the College of Education indicates an interest in pursuing the NCE qualification,” JAMB stated.
The guidelines also emphasised that applications for NCE admission would be treated as deliberate choices.
Consequently, any candidate recommended for NCE admission would automatically have any ongoing UTME or Direct Entry admission process suspended.
“Anyone who chooses NCE and s/he is proposed/recommended, would have any ongoing UTME/DE process suspended,” the Board said.
In addition, JAMB disclosed that details of candidates who applied through the 2026 UTME would be automatically migrated to their selected first-choice Colleges of Education or Agric-related Non-Technology National Diploma programmes where applicable.
The Board also introduced compulsory O’Level verification for all NCE applicants.
The verification fee was fixed at ₦1,500 for candidates presenting one sitting and ₦2,000 for those presenting results from two sittings.
JAMB urged Colleges of Education, Institutional Professional Registration Centres, accredited Computer-Based Test centres and its officials nationwide to study the new guidelines and ensure strict compliance.
The latest policy effectively ends a system that had expanded access to university degree qualifications through Colleges of Education and reinforces the NCE as the foundational qualification for teacher education in Nigeria.
