Nov, 3 2025
On November 3, 2025, the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board announced a last-minute extension to the admissions deadline for Nigeria’s public universities—pushing it to November 17, 2025. The move, confirmed by the Daily Post, came after 23 universities failed to submit Post-UTME screening scores for 135 under-age candidates, creating a bottleneck that threatened to leave hundreds of students in limbo just weeks before the new academic year. This isn’t the first delay. Back in September, Fabian Benjamin, JAMB’s Head of Public Relations, had already extended the deadline for under-age candidate assessments after institutions missed the September 15 cutoff. Now, with the original October 30 deadline for public universities unreachable, JAMB is scrambling to close the gap—without sacrificing fairness.
Why the delay? A system under strain
The root of the problem lies in how Nigeria’s tertiary admissions work. The Central Admissions Processing System (CAPS), managed by JAMB, requires every public university to upload their screening results electronically. But as of mid-September, 23 out of 40 federal and state universities hadn’t submitted scores for 135 under-age applicants. These are students who took the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) but were below the minimum age requirement—typically 16. They needed special clearance after the National Examinations Council (NECO) released its 2025 Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) results on September 17, 2025. That’s when the real crunch began.Of the 176 under-age candidates screened overall, five universities accounted for nearly all the delays. The University of Lagos in Yaba, Lagos State, lagged behind with 39 unresolved cases. Then came Nile University of Nigeria (18), Nnamdi Azikiwe University in Awka, Anambra State (15), University of Abuja (12), and University of Uyo (9). That’s 93% of the affected candidates concentrated in just five institutions.
Who’s responsible—and who’s paying the price?
JAMB’s Fabian Benjamin didn’t mince words. In a statement issued on September 18, 2025, he told institutions: “We’ve formally written to the universities involved, directing them to submit the outstanding screening scores without further delay.” But the delays persisted. Some schools cited staffing shortages. Others blamed outdated IT systems. One university reportedly lost data during a server migration. The truth? Many institutions treated CAPS as a suggestion, not a mandate.The pressure didn’t come just from JAMB. The entire framework was shaped by the 2025 Policy Meeting on Admissions, chaired by Dr. Maruf Tunji Alausa, Nigeria’s Minister of Education. The meeting, held earlier in 2025, set hard deadlines: October 30 for public universities, November 30 for private ones. Private institutions like Nile University still have until November 30 to finish, but public universities—funded by taxpayers and bound by federal policy—were expected to lead by example. They didn’t.
Now, the 135 students caught in the middle are mostly from Lagos, Abuja, Anambra, and Akwa Ibom. Some are 15-year-olds who aced their SSCE exams. Others are children of civil servants who relied on the system to deliver. Their parents are calling JAMB offices daily. Some have already booked lodgings near campuses, hoping for confirmation. One mother in Port Harcourt told the Daily Post: “I sold my second-hand car to pay for my daughter’s accommodation. Now she might miss the semester. What do I tell her?”
What’s different this time?
Unlike previous years, JAMB isn’t just extending deadlines—it’s tracking non-compliance publicly. The names of the offending institutions were disclosed in September. That’s new. So is the fact that JAMB is now coordinating directly with state governments to apply pressure. In Lagos State, the governor’s office was briefed. In Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory administration issued a warning to its own university. For the first time, institutional reputation is being tied to admissions performance.And here’s the twist: the extension doesn’t mean the system is fixed. It just buys time. JAMB’s IT team is working overtime to verify scores manually for the 135 cases. If universities still don’t submit by November 17, those candidates could be dropped entirely. No appeals. No exceptions. “We’re not punishing students,” Benjamin said. “We’re punishing institutions that refuse to play by the rules.”
What’s next? A system in transition
The November 17 deadline is the immediate fix. But the real question is whether this will trigger systemic change. In 2023, JAMB introduced CAPS to eliminate paper-based fraud and centralize control. It worked—until now. The fact that 23 universities still operate in silos suggests deeper problems: underfunded IT departments, bureaucratic inertia, and a culture of non-accountability.Experts say the next step is mandatory audits. “If a university misses two deadlines in a row, they should lose their CAPS access,” says Dr. Ngozi Okoro, an education policy analyst at the University of Ibadan. “No more extensions. No more excuses. Either you’re part of the system, or you’re out.”
Meanwhile, JAMB has promised to publish a list of universities that met all deadlines by November 20. Transparency, they say, is the new weapon. For the 135 students, it’s the only thing standing between them and a lost year.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does this affect under-age candidates who missed the original deadline?
The 135 under-age candidates affected by university non-compliance now have until November 17, 2025, to have their admissions finalized. If their chosen university submits their screening scores by then, they’ll be included in the final batch. If not, they’ll be excluded from the 2025/2026 intake and must reapply next year. No appeals will be entertained after the deadline.
Why are private universities still on the November 30 deadline?
Private universities were given a later deadline—November 30, 2025—because they operate independently and aren’t funded by federal budgets. Their admissions are less tied to government timelines, and many handle screening internally. However, they still use JAMB’s CAPS platform and must comply with all requirements. The November 30 date remains unchanged despite the public university extension.
What happens if a university still doesn’t submit scores by November 17?
JAMB will mark the university as non-compliant and notify the Federal Ministry of Education. The institution may face sanctions, including suspension of future admissions privileges or loss of federal funding eligibility. For the affected students, their applications will be closed without recourse. JAMB will not override institutional decisions after the deadline.
How many students were impacted by this delay overall?
A total of 176 under-age candidates were screened for eligibility in the 2025 UTME cycle. Of those, 135 were affected by institutional delays, primarily from five universities: University of Lagos (39), Nile University (18), Nnamdi Azikiwe University (15), University of Abuja (12), and University of Uyo (9). The remaining 41 had their scores submitted on time and are already cleared.
Is this the first time JAMB has extended admissions deadlines?
No. JAMB has extended deadlines before, usually due to technical glitches or delayed SSCE results. But this is the first time the extension was triggered by institutional non-compliance. Previous extensions were administrative; this one is disciplinary. The public naming of universities marks a shift in JAMB’s approach from reactive to punitive.
What role did NECO play in this delay?
NECO released the 2025 SSCE results on September 17, 2025—two days after the initial screening deadline set by JAMB. While this contributed to the backlog, it wasn’t the root cause. JAMB had already anticipated the result release and set a September 30 submission window for universities. The real issue was universities failing to act even after results were available.
Patrick Scheuerer
November 4, 2025 AT 19:30The institutional incompetence here isn't just bureaucratic-it's a betrayal of public trust. These universities are state-funded, yet they treat CAPS like a suggestion box. The fact that five institutions account for 93% of the delays speaks to a culture of impunity. If a corporation operated this way, it would be fined into oblivion. But in Nigeria’s education system, failure is rewarded with extensions. That’s not mercy; it’s systemic rot.
Angie Ponce
November 5, 2025 AT 05:24Let’s be real-this is what happens when you let unqualified kids into university. If they’re under 16, they shouldn’t be taking UTME in the first place. JAMB should’ve blocked them at the gate, not created a whole new crisis trying to rescue them now. This isn’t about fairness-it’s about lowering standards to appease anxious parents.
Andrew Malick
November 6, 2025 AT 02:37There’s a deeper structural issue here that no one’s addressing: the CAPS platform was designed as a centralized system, but it’s being operated in a federalized environment with zero enforcement teeth. Universities aren’t just negligent-they’re structurally empowered to be. The federal government funds them, but doesn’t control their IT departments. You can’t mandate digital compliance when your oversight is paper-based. This isn’t a delay-it’s a symptom of a fractured governance model.
will haley
November 6, 2025 AT 21:54Imagine selling your car for your daughter’s dorm, then getting a form email saying ‘your application is closed.’ That’s not a policy failure-that’s a moral collapse. Someone needs to get fired. Not the students. Not the parents. The people who sat on their hands while a child’s future evaporated.
Laura Hordern
November 7, 2025 AT 20:06Look, I get that the system’s messy, but I’ve seen how these universities operate on the ground. The IT departments? Barely functional. Half the staff don’t even know how to upload a PDF without crashing the server. And don’t get me started on the ‘lost data during migration’ excuse-that’s a classic Nigerian bureaucratic cover-up. The real problem isn’t the deadline. It’s that nobody’s been held accountable for years. We need tech audits, not extensions. We need mandatory training. We need consequences. Not just for the universities, but for the ministers who let this keep happening.
Brittany Vacca
November 8, 2025 AT 01:18So sad to see this happen. I hope all the students get their spots. 😔 JAMB is doing the right thing by being firm. Maybe this will finally push schools to upgrade their systems. Fingers crossed! 🤞
Lucille Nowakoski
November 9, 2025 AT 14:13This is exactly why we need community-led oversight. Parents, alumni, and even students should have a portal to report non-compliance anonymously. Right now, the system only reacts when it’s too late. But if we had real-time dashboards showing which schools are lagging-like a public scoreboard-it would create peer pressure. Universities care about rankings and reputation. Use that. Let the public shame them into compliance. This isn’t just about admissions-it’s about rebuilding trust in public institutions.
Benjamin Gottlieb
November 10, 2025 AT 12:27The CAPS framework was a brilliant architectural intervention-a centralized, algorithmic gatekeeper to eliminate fraud and opacity. But like any system, its efficacy is contingent on the integrity of its nodes. The failure isn’t technical; it’s institutional. These universities are operating as rent-seeking entities, leveraging their state sponsorship to avoid accountability. The extension isn’t a fix-it’s a temporary subsidy for malfeasance. The solution lies in institutional disinvestment: revoke CAPS access after two violations. No more grace periods. No more ‘we’ll try next time.’ Either you’re part of the digital ecosystem, or you’re obsolete. And if that means fewer universities? Good. Quality over quantity.
Angela Harris
November 12, 2025 AT 07:35My cousin was one of those 135. She’s 15, got 380 in UTME. They told her to wait. Now she’s just… waiting. No one calls back. No one apologizes. Just silence.
Doloris Lance
November 13, 2025 AT 00:11Let’s not romanticize the students. Many of these under-age candidates were pushed into the system by parents who see university as a status symbol, not an educational journey. The real issue is the parental pressure that incentivizes fraud and early testing. JAMB should’ve mandated a minimum age for UTME registration, not scrambled to clean up after enabling it. This isn’t about fairness-it’s about enabling bad parenting.
Carolette Wright
November 14, 2025 AT 16:40They sold their car?? That’s insane. I can’t even imagine. This whole thing is just… heartbreaking. Someone needs to do something. Like, right now.