JAMB Grants Final Extension to Candidates with Outstanding Admission Offers
By Alice Etuka, Abuja
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has extended the deadline for candidates with outstanding admission offers from the 2021 to 2025 admission exercises to either accept or reject such offers to 30th November 2026.
JAMB Spokesperson, Fabian Benjamin announced this in a statement on Wednesday.
The extension follows the temporary unavailability of the Central Admissions Processing System (CAPS) for approximately 96 hours and is intended to give all affected candidates a final opportunity to update their admission records.
The Board had earlier extended the deadline for candidates offered admission between 2021 and 2025 to 30th September 2026. However, in view of the recent disruption to the CAPS platform, Management has approved 30th November 2026 as the final deadline for candidates in this category to indicate whether they wish to accept or reject their outstanding admission offers.
It warned that candidates who fail to act on or before 30th November 2026 will not be permitted to accept or reject such outstanding offers within the current window.
“Any subsequent request to update an admission record relating to these previous years will attract the applicable penalty fee, in view of the fact that the admission offers have remained outstanding for several years and candidates have had ample opportunity to take the necessary action.
“This intervention is particularly important for candidates whose admissions are not reflected on the matriculation list, as such candidates may encounter difficulties accessing benefits associated with properly documented admissions, including participation in the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme”, he said.
The Board also advised all affected candidates to take immediate action and not wait until the expiration of the deadline.
“Candidates who accept their admission offers will be able to proceed to print their admission letters.
“Candidates who reject their admission offers will have their dashboards reverted to ‘Not Admitted’, thereby enabling the Board to update its records and ensure that the national admission database accurately reflects their current status”, he said.
The Spokesperson directed candidates who were no longer studying at the institution where the previous admission was offered, or who were currently pursuing a programme different from the one for which the previous admission was granted to accept the outstanding admission and subsequently apply for the appropriate correction or deletion of the previous admission, where applicable.
This, he said would enable the Board to appropriately update the candidate’s admission status and records.
Similarly, candidates who were currently pursuing a second degree but still had an unaccepted admission offer from a previous admission exercise were directed to reject the outstanding offer and continue with their current programme.
The Board reassured candidates who had been offered admission in the 2026 admission exercise but still had an outstanding admission offer from an earlier year that they had no cause for apprehension. “Such candidates may reject the previous admission offer, and doing so will not affect their 2026 admission”, JAMB clarified.
“The extension is not only intended to accommodate the period during which CAPS was unavailable but also to provide all affected candidates with a final opportunity to clearly indicate whether they wish to accept or reject their outstanding admission offers. It will further enable the Board to maintain accurate, current and reliable national admission records.
“The Board wishes to reiterate that 30th November 2026 is the final deadline for accepting or rejecting outstanding admissions from the 2021 to 2025 admission exercises. At the expiration of the deadline, all outstanding admission offers from these years that have neither been accepted nor rejected will automatically revert to ‘Not Admitted’ status on the Board’s records.
“All affected candidates are, therefore advised to take immediate action. Candidates are reminded that failure to accept an admission offer within the stipulated period may render the offer invalid”, the statement concluded.
