THE Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has formally ended admissions into affiliated degree programmes run by Colleges of Education, marking a significant shift in Nigeria’s teacher education system and effectively making the Nigeria Certificate in Education (NCE) the sole entry route into the institutions beginning from the 2026/2027 academic session.
News Point Nigeria reports that the decision was contained in JAMB’s newly released NCE/ND Agric Registration Guidelines, issued by the Office of the Registrar in June 2026, and signals the end of a long-standing arrangement that enabled Colleges of Education to award university degrees through partnerships with conventional universities.
Under the new policy, the Board categorically stated that there would be “no admission into any affiliated programme in any College of Education from 2026/7 Session.”
In a further tightening of admission procedures, JAMB also ruled out direct admission into both 100 and 200 levels in Colleges of Education, insisting that all new entrants must henceforth 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 development effectively brings to a close an era in which thousands of students pursued university degrees through affiliated Colleges of Education, a pathway that had existed for decades and served as an alternative route to obtaining bachelor’s degrees.
The reform is expected to affect thousands of candidates who applied for degree programmes through affiliated Colleges of Education for the 2026 admission cycle.
To mitigate the impact of the policy on affected candidates, JAMB outlined a number of options for those who had already selected affiliated Colleges of Education for degree programmes through the Direct Entry admission route.
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.
“A candidate may choose to be moved to the parent university to which the Degree programme is affiliated,” JAMB stated.
The Board added that candidates wishing to switch institutions have been given until June 22 to complete the process.
Similarly, candidates seeking 100-level admission into affiliated Colleges of Education through the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) have also been presented with three alternatives.
Under the arrangement, such candidates may change their institution, elevate their second-choice institution to first-choice status, or migrate to the NCE programme offered by their chosen College of Education.
JAMB explained that candidates who choose the NCE pathway would be required to obtain an O’Level verification code from the relevant examination body and pay only ₦700 as a registration fee on the Board’s 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,” the Board explained.
The guidelines further emphasised that every application for NCE admission would be regarded as a deliberate choice and warned that candidates recommended for NCE admission would have any existing 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 stated.
For candidates who have already applied through the 2026 UTME mode, JAMB disclosed that their details would be automatically migrated to their selected first-choice College of Education or Agric-related Non-Technology National Diploma (ND) programmes.
As part of the new admission framework, the Board also introduced mandatory O’Level verification for all NCE applicants.
Under the policy, candidates will pay ₦1,500 for verification of one sitting and ₦2,000 for verification involving two sittings.
JAMB subsequently directed Colleges of Education, Institutional Professional Registration Centres (IPRCs), accredited Computer-Based Test (CBT) centres and its officials nationwide to study the guidelines carefully and ensure full compliance.
“All PRCs, IPRCs and Officers of the Board are to study the guidelines and ensure strict compliance with the information contained therein,” the Registrar stated.
For years, affiliated degree programmes served as a major avenue through which Colleges of Education partnered with universities to offer bachelor’s degree programmes, allowing students to earn university degrees while studying within the colleges.
However, the latest policy effectively ends that arrangement for new admissions from the 2026/2027 academic session and reinforces the Nigeria Certificate in Education as the foundational and exclusive qualification route for teacher education in the country.
The decision represents one of the most far-reaching reforms in Nigeria’s teacher education admission framework in recent years and is expected to reshape the future of Colleges of Education across the country.