By Dara Ojomo
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board has cautioned prospective students against accepting admission offers that fall outside its Central Admissions Processing System, warning that such offers may not hold up as valid.
The warning came via a post on JAMB’s official social media platforms Monday, where the board urged candidates to confirm their admission status through CAPS before accepting anything an institution offers them directly.
The concern, as JAMB laid it out, isn’t just technical, it’s about protecting students from real consequences. An offer from an institution that bypasses the approved JAMB process could put a candidate’s academic future at risk, the board said, creating complications down the line with admission records and related processes.
The warning tied into JAMB’s ongoing “JAMB Explained” series, with this particular episode focused on what actually makes an admission illegal, what that means practically for students, and how candidates can protect themselves from falling into that trap. The board’s message was blunt: verify before you accept.
CAPS itself was built to automate and standardize the admissions process across Nigerian tertiary institutions. It gives candidates a way to check their admission status and confirm provisional offers directly, while giving institutions a structured, approved framework to process admissions through.
JAMB’s 2026 admission guidelines back this up in black and white: any admission must come through the board and be printed via its e-Facility platform. Without a JAMB admission letter, the guidelines state plainly, an offer is considered illegal and won’t be recognized by the board, no exceptions.
The guidelines go further, warning that candidates who accept admission outside CAPS do so entirely at their own risk. JAMB says it will neither recognize nor condone such admissions, leaving students exposed if something goes wrong.
Candidates can check their admission status and access CAPS directly through JAMB’s official website, jamb.gov.ng.
