The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has ended admissions into affiliated degree programmes run by colleges of education, making the Nigeria Certificate in Education(NCE) the sole entry route into the institutions from the 2026/2027 academic session.
This is 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 admission would be conducted into any affiliated programme in any college of education from the 2026/2027 academic session.
JAMB also prohibited direct admission into 100 and 200 levels in colleges of education, insisting that all fresh entrants must now gain admission through the NCE programme.
“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,” the board stated.
The move brings to an end the long standing arrangement that allowed colleges of education to award university degrees through affiliation with conventional universities.
The development is expected to affect thousands of candidates seeking admission into degree programmes through affiliated colleges of education in the 2026 admission cycle.
To ease the transition, JAMB outlined options for candidates who had already selected affiliated colleges of education for degree programmes through Direct Entry.
According to the board, affected candidates may apply for a change of institution at no cost, transfer to the parent university to which the degree programme is affiliated, or allow their second-choice institution to become their first choice for admission processing.
JAMB added that candidates wishing to switch institutions had been given up to June 22 to complete the process.
Similarly, candidates seeking 100-level admission into affiliated colleges of education through the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination have been presented with three options: change institution, elevate their second-choice institution to first choice, or migrate to the NCE programme.
The board explained that candidates opting for the NCE route would be required to obtain an O-Level verification code from the relevant examination body and pay only N700 as registration fee on the JAMB portal.
The guidelines further stipulate that every application for NCE admission is a deliberate choice and that candidates recommended for NCE admission would have any ongoing UTME or Direct Entry admission process suspended.
JAMB also disclosed that candidates who had already applied through the 2026 UTME would have their details automatically migrated to their chosen first-choice college of education or agric-related non-technology National Diploma programmes.
The board also introduced mandatory O-Level verification for all NCE applicants, pegging the verification fee at N1,500 for one sitting and N2,000 for two sittings.
JAMB urged colleges of education, institutional professional registration centres, accredited CBT centres and its officials across the country to study the new guidelines and ensure strict compliance.
The board said the reform is aimed at reinforcing the NCE as the foundational qualification for teacher education in Nigeria while streamlining the admission process into colleges of education nationwide.
