2026 UTME: JAMB assures candidates of rescheduled exams amid glitches

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) says candidates affected by technical glitches will be reassigned the new Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) dates and centres.

JAMB said the move was to ensure that no registered candidate is denied the opportunity to sit for the examination.

The board’s Public Communication Adviser, Dr Fabian Benjamin, gave the assurance during the Senate Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFund monitoring of the ongoing UTME in Abuja on Friday, April 17, 2026.

Benjamin spoke while responding to concerns raised by parents and candidates affected by technical disruptions at the Good Success Computer-Based Test (CBT) Centre in the Utako area of Abuja.

He said the board anticipated minor operational challenges, considering the nationwide scale of the examination, saying that it had put mechanisms in place to address them promptly.

Benjamin assured that JAMB would continue rescheduling affected candidates where necessary and would also conduct a mop-up examination for those unable to write due to centre failures.

He explained that the mop-up exercise was designed to accommodate candidates whose examinations were disrupted, stressing that the board remained committed to fulfilling its obligation to all registered candidates.

Benjamin added that only a few centres out of the 957 centres deployed nationwide had experienced operational failure.

Earlier, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFund, Mohammed Dandutse, acknowledged that while progress had been recorded in the conduct of the examination, several challenges still required urgent attention.

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Dandutse said the committee would intensify oversight to ensure improvements in JAMB’s operations and prevent recurrence of technical disruptions.

He noted that the committee had directed JAMB to take immediate corrective measures to enable affected candidates sit the examination without further hardship.

The senator assured that the National Assembly would review the board’s activities and work toward ensuring that all CBT centres operate efficiently.

Meanwhile, some parents and candidates expressed dissatisfaction over repeated postponements.

A parent, David Afolayan, said his daughter had been unable to write the examination after reporting at the centre on two consecutive days due to network failure.

Afolayan questioned why longstanding technical issues had not been resolved in spite of legislative oversight of the education sector, noting that candidates incurred significant transportation expenses.

A candidate, Eunice Peter, who travelled from Kaduna State, said she spent money on transportation and accommodation but was unable to sit for the examination on both scheduled days.

She appealed to authorities to address logistical challenges to reduce the financial and emotional burden on candidates.

The UTME, which entered its second day on Friday, is being conducted nationwide across accredited CBT centres.