The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has officially scheduled Saturday, June 13, 2026, for the conduct of the 2026 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) mop-up exercise. This crucial announcement was made on Monday by Fabian Benjamin, the Board’s Public Communication Advisor, clarifying the final opportunity for certain categories of candidates.

The mop-up examination is specifically designed for candidates who successfully presented themselves and underwent biometric verification during the main 2026 UTME, but were subsequently unable to sit the examination for various reasons. These reasons include technical disruptions experienced at some Computer-Based Test (CBT) centres, the withdrawal of results due to alleged examination infractions, or failures in biometric verification at the examination point. JAMB explicitly stated that all such affected candidates have been identified and listed for this special mop-up session.

The main 2026 UTME was conducted nationwide across accredited CBT centres between April 16 and April 29, 2026, with over 2.2 million candidates participating. During this period, some centres encountered technical challenges that prevented a number of candidates from completing their examinations. Subsequently, some results were withheld or withdrawn pending investigations into suspected cases of examination malpractice or for candidates who could not be biometrically verified.

Affected candidates are strongly advised to commence printing their examination notification slips from Saturday, June 6, 2026. JAMB further urged these candidates to familiarize themselves with their designated examination centres and make all necessary arrangements ahead of the scheduled date. The Board emphatically stressed that there would be no further opportunity to sit the 2026 UTME after this mop-up exercise, marking it as the final phase of the 2026 UTME cycle aimed at resolving all outstanding issues.

In other developments, JAMB had begun releasing the 2026 UTME results on April 20, following the initial examinations. The Board initially released 632,752 results for candidates who sat on April 16, followed by 1,264,940 results for those who wrote on April 17 and 18, bringing the total released from the first three days to 1,897,692 results. In May, JAMB also commenced the process of change of institution and course for candidates who participated in the 2026 UTME, and released an additional 279 previously withheld results after further review.

Regarding admissions, JAMB has retained the existing minimum admission benchmarks for the 2026 admission exercise. Under these guidelines, universities and Colleges of Nursing Sciences will continue to admit candidates with a minimum UTME score of 150, while polytechnics will accept a minimum score of 100. The Board also maintained 16 years as the minimum age for admission into tertiary institutions.

Looking ahead, a new policy is set to take effect from the 2027 admission cycle. From 2027, candidates seeking admission into Colleges of Education for education-related and agriculture non-engineering programmes will no longer be required to sit for the UTME. This reform, according to JAMB, aims to expand access to teacher education and agriculture-related disciplines. However, universities and polytechnics offering similar courses will still require UTME participation for admission.