By Joshua Tosin Ogunsakin 
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board and other stakeholders have announced the deadlines for the conclusion of the 2025/2026 admission exercise for tertiary institutions across the country.
The decision was reached during the 2026 JAMB Annual Policy Meeting on Admissions into Tertiary Institutions held in Abuja on Monday.
According to the resolutions adopted at the meeting, all public universities are expected to conclude their admission processes on or before October 31, 2026, while private universities have been given until November 30, 2026, to complete admissions.
Similarly, polytechnics, monotechnics and colleges of education are to round off their admission exercises not later than December 31, 2026.
It was also adopted that all institutions must conduct their admissions within the approved schedule.
“All institutions are to conduct their 2026 admission exercise within the approved schedule,” the board said.
It warned that institutions that fail to conclude admissions within the stipulated period would lose access to candidates on the Central Admissions Processing System platform.
“At the expiration of the period, any institution that failed to conduct its admission will no longer have the candidates on its platform on CAPS,” the board added.
JAMB also announced a four-week grace period for candidates to accept admission offers after approval by institutions.
“There will be a grace period of four weeks within which all approved admissions must be accepted by the candidates,” JAMB stated.
It further warned that candidates who fail to accept admissions within the stipulated time risk losing the offer and may face sanctions.
“Failure to do so will lead to such admissions being deleted, based on the request from the institutions, and the candidates will be placed under the ‘refusal to accept category’ punishable by ineligibility to be admitted again,” the board said.
The policy meeting, which brought together Vice-chancellors, Rectors, and other stakeholders in the education sector, focused on streamlining the admission process and ensuring uniformity in admission timelines among tertiary institutions nationwide.