JAMB Extends 2021–2025 Admission Acceptance Deadline to November 30 By Beauty Akporido Aroh
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has extended to November 30, 2026, the deadline for candidates with outstanding admission offers from the 2021 to 2025 admission exercises to either accept or reject the offers.
The Board said the extension followed the temporary unavailability of its Central Admissions Processing System (CAPS) for approximately 96 hours, giving affected candidates a final opportunity to update their admission records.
JAMB had earlier fixed September 30, 2026, as the deadline for candidates offered admission between 2021 and 2025 to take action on their offers. However, following the recent disruption to the CAPS platform, the Board’s management approved November 30 as the final deadline.
In a statement signed by Fabian Benjamin, Ph.D., Ag. Director, Public Affairs and Protocols (PAP), the Board warned that candidates who fail to accept or reject their outstanding offers by the new deadline would no longer be permitted to do so within the current window.
It said any subsequent request to update an admission record relating to previous years would attract the applicable penalty fee, noting that the offers had remained outstanding for several years and candidates had had ample opportunity to take the necessary action.
The intervention is particularly important for candidates whose admissions are not reflected on the matriculation list, as this could affect their access to benefits associated with properly documented admissions, including participation in the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme.
JAMB therefore urged all affected candidates to act immediately rather than wait until the deadline.
Candidates who accept their outstanding offers will be able to proceed to print their admission letters, while those who reject them will have their dashboards reverted to “Not Admitted”.
According to the Board, the process will enable it to update its records and ensure that the national admission database accurately reflects the current status of candidates.
JAMB also clarified that candidates who are no longer studying at the institution where the previous admission was offered, or who are currently pursuing a different programme, may accept the outstanding admission and subsequently apply for the appropriate correction or deletion of the previous admission, where applicable.
Similarly, candidates currently pursuing a second degree but who still have an unaccepted admission offer from a previous admission exercise may reject the outstanding offer and continue with their current programme.
The Board further reassured candidates who have received admission offers for the 2026 admission exercise but still have outstanding offers from earlier years that they have no cause for concern.
Such candidates may reject the previous admission offer, and doing so will not affect their 2026 admission.
JAMB said the extension was intended not only to accommodate the period during which CAPS was unavailable but also to provide affected candidates with a final opportunity to clearly indicate their decisions and enable the Board to maintain accurate and reliable national admission records.
It reiterated that November 30, 2026, is the final deadline for accepting or rejecting outstanding admission offers from the 2021 to 2025 admission exercises.
At the expiration of the deadline, all outstanding offers from those years that have neither been accepted nor rejected will automatically revert to “Not Admitted” status on the Board’s records.
The Board advised all affected candidates to take immediate action, stressing that failure to accept an admission offer within the stipulated period may render the offer invalid.
