When Is JAMB 2027 Starting? Expected Registration Dates, Fees & Full Guide

Quick answer: JAMB 2027 registration is expected to open in the last week of January 2027 and close in late February or early March 2027. The main UTME exam should hold in April 2027, and Direct Entry registration should open in early March and run into April. JAMB has not announced the official 2027 dates yet. The projections on this page follow the board’s confirmed 2025 and 2026 calendars, and I will update this guide the moment the official announcement drops.

If you have been asking when JAMB 2027 starts, you are far from alone. Every year, over a million candidates preparing for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) or Direct Entry go hunting for accurate dates, requirements, and a clear picture of how registration actually works. I went through this scramble myself as a candidate, and I have watched juniors repeat it every cycle since. That is why I keep this guide updated.

The good news is that JAMB runs a very consistent calendar, and that consistency lets me project the 2027 window with real confidence. Below you will find the confirmed recent dates, the projected 2027 timeline, the fees, the documents you need, a step-by-step registration walkthrough, the mistakes that trip candidates up every single year, and a plan for the months between now and the exam.

Recent JAMB registration dates (confirmed)

The clearest way to predict 2027 is to look at what just happened.

2026 UTME (confirmed by JAMB)

• Registration: Monday, 26 January 2026 to Saturday, 28 February 2026
• Mock UTME (optional): Saturday, 28 March 2026
• Main UTME exam: Thursday, 16 April to Saturday, 25 April 2026
• Direct Entry: Monday, 2 March to Saturday, 25 April 2026

2025 UTME (for comparison)

• Registration: Monday, 3 February 2025 to Saturday, 8 March 2025

Put the two years side by side and the pattern is obvious. UTME registration opens in late January or early February, runs for about four to five weeks, and closes in late February or early March. The exam follows in April. Direct Entry opens a little later and stays open longer.

Projected JAMB 2027 registration dates

Based on that pattern, here is what to expect for 2027:

• Registration begins: expected late January 2027, around the last week of the month
• Registration ends: expected late February or early March 2027
• Mock UTME (optional): expected late March 2027
• Main UTME exam: expected April 2027
• Direct Entry: expected to open in early March 2027 and run into April

Treat these as projections, not gospel. JAMB announces the official dates closer to the time, and the board occasionally shifts a window by a week or two. Confirm on the official JAMB portal before you act on anything, and check back here, because I update this page as soon as the announcement is out.

What JAMB is and why the timeline matters

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) is Nigeria’s official matriculation body. It conducts the UTME and Direct Entry exams that feed admission into universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education.

Whether you are a first-time UTME candidate or a Direct Entry applicant with a National Diploma or NCE, you pass through the same system: create a JAMB profile, register and pay through the official channels, and sit your exam at an approved CBT centre. Knowing the timeline is the first step, because if you miss the window, you wait a full year for the next one. There is no late registration and no appeal. I have seen candidates lose an entire admission cycle to a NIN delay they could have sorted out in October. Do not be that candidate.

The timeline matters for a second reason: your UTME result is valid for one admission year only. You cannot bank a good score and use it two years later. The exam you register for in 2027 decides your 2027/2028 admission, so it pays to see registration, exam, post-UTME, and admission as one journey and plan for all of it.

Step-by-step JAMB registration process

When the window opens, here is how registration works from start to finish.

1. Get your National Identification Number (NIN)

Your NIN is compulsory. Without it you cannot even create a profile. If you do not have one yet, enrol at an accredited NIMC centre well ahead of the registration window. NIN problems are one of the most common reasons candidates get stuck near the deadline, and the queues at NIMC centres get worse the closer you get to registration season. Sort it out now, months early, while nobody else is thinking about it.

While you are at it, check that the details on your NIN record are correct. The name, date of birth, and spelling on your NIN flow into your JAMB profile, and correcting NIMC records takes time you will not have in January.

2. Create your JAMB profile

Send your NIN by SMS to 55019 or 66019 in the format “NIN” followed by your number (for example, NIN 12345678901). You will receive a profile code on the phone number you use. Use a personal phone number you control. Not your parent’s line, not a friend’s, and definitely not a number borrowed at a business centre, because that number becomes your identifier for every dealing you will ever have with JAMB, from registration through admission and beyond. Candidates who lose access to that number create serious problems for themselves later.

3. Buy your e-PIN

Use your profile code to purchase the JAMB e-PIN through approved banks or the official channels. The fee bundles the application fee, a compulsory reading text, and the CBT centre service charges.

4. Complete registration at an approved CBT centre

Visit an accredited centre to capture your personal details and biometrics and to upload your documents. This is also where you enter your O’level results (or awaiting-results status), select your subject combination, and choose your institutions and course. Only registration done at approved centres is valid, so do not cut corners here, no matter what shortcut someone at a business centre promises you.

5. Collect your e-Slip

Once you finish, you receive an e-Slip carrying your JAMB registration number and your exam details. Keep it safe. Photograph it, save a copy to your email, and give a copy to someone you trust. You will need it repeatedly.

Choosing your course and institution: get this right the first time

Two decisions you make inside that CBT centre shape your entire admission chances, and candidates routinely rush both.

The first is your subject combination. The UTME is four subjects, and English Language is compulsory for everyone. The other three must match the course you are applying for, exactly as the official JAMB brochure specifies. A candidate applying for Medicine who registers Government instead of Physics has disqualified themselves before writing a single question. Check the brochure for your own course, not what a friend registered, because combinations differ even between courses that sound similar.

The second is your institution and course choices. During registration you select your preferred institutions and course, and your first choice carries the most weight in the admission process. Be ambitious but honest with yourself: look at what the school’s cut-off marks and aggregate requirements have actually been, not what you hope they will be. I have written a detailed breakdown of how LASU calculates cut-off marks and aggregate scores by department that shows how these numbers work in practice. The figures differ between institutions, but the logic is similar almost everywhere.

If you later realise you picked wrongly, all is not lost. JAMB allows corrections through its portal for a fee, and I have covered how much change of course costs, the full change of course process, and the change of institution process in separate guides. But every correction costs money and time, and doing it late can complicate your admission. One extra evening with the brochure now beats an extra month of corrections later.

Registration fees

Fees are set by JAMB each year and announced with the calendar. For reference, the 2026 UTME breakdown was: application fee ₦3,500, reading text ₦1,000, CBT centre registration service charge ₦700, CBT centre UTME service charge ₦1,500, and bank charges ₦500, with the optional mock adding ₦1,500. JAMB held fees steady that year rather than raising them.

Expect the 2027 fees to land in a similar range, but wait for the official announcement for exact figures, since this is the kind of detail that can change.

Pay only through the approved channels. Every registration season brings a fresh wave of fake portals and “agents” collecting inflated fees for services that are either free or cheaper officially. If someone quotes you a price far above the official breakdown, walk away.

Documents and information you will need

Have these ready before you start so nothing slows you down:

• Your NIN
• Your O’level results, or awaiting-results details
• Your JAMB subject combination for your intended course (check the official JAMB brochure)
• A valid email address and an active personal phone number
• Past questions for practice

A note on O’level results: you can register while awaiting results, but your admission ultimately depends on presenting the credentials your course requires. If you already have your results, bring the exact details, meaning the exam year, exam number, and grades, because what gets uploaded must match your certificates precisely.

Direct Entry candidates

If you are applying through Direct Entry, you need a National Diploma, NCE, or an equivalent qualification. The DE window usually opens after UTME registration begins and stays open longer. You will provide your transcripts or proof of qualification during the admission process, and DE registration is handled through JAMB’s state and zonal offices rather than the general CBT centres.

DE candidates skip the UTME exam itself, but everything else in this guide applies to you the same way: the NIN requirement, the profile creation, the importance of accurate details, and the CAPS admission process.

Common registration mistakes that cost candidates their year

I keep a mental list of the ways candidates sabotage themselves every cycle. These are the big ones.

Waiting for the deadline. The final week of registration combines overloaded portals, crowded CBT centres, biometric machines acting up, and NIMC queues full of other people who also waited. Candidates who register in the first two weeks experience almost none of this.

Name and detail mismatches. Your name on your NIN, your JAMB profile, and your O’level results must align. A missing middle name or a swapped surname order can resurface at post-UTME screening, at admission, even at NYSC mobilisation years later. Fix discrepancies at the source before registering.

The wrong subject combination. I covered this above, but it bears repeating because it is the most painful mistake on this list: an entire exam written for nothing.

Registering with someone else’s phone number or email. The profile phone number is permanent. When the owner of that borrowed SIM travels, changes numbers, or simply stops picking calls, the candidate is locked out of their own admission process.

Falling for “assistance” scams. Nobody can upgrade your score, reserve you an admission, or register you outside the approved system. Anyone selling that is selling fraud, and candidates have lost both money and valid registrations to it.

Ignoring the e-Slip. Your registration number is the key to everything that follows. Losing it does not end your journey, but recovering it wastes time during windows when time is exactly what you do not have.

What happens after the exam: the road from UTME to admission

Registration and the UTME begin the process; they do not end it. Understanding the full road helps you make better decisions from day one.

After the exam, JAMB releases results. The UTME is scored over 400 across your four subjects, and I have a separate guide on checking your result and understanding what the score means for your options.

Then comes post-UTME screening. Most universities conduct their own screening, whether a second exam, an oral screening, or a document verification exercise, and combine it with your UTME score to produce an aggregate. This is why a strong UTME score alone does not guarantee admission, and why you must watch your first-choice institution’s announcements after results drop.

Admission itself happens on JAMB CAPS, the Central Admissions Processing System. Institutions propose admissions on CAPS, and you log in to accept or reject the offer. Candidates have missed admissions simply because they never checked. Once you have written your exam, checking CAPS regularly should become part of your routine, and I have a full guide on how the platform works and what each status means.

After you accept on CAPS, your institution takes over: acceptance fees, medical screening, course registration, and the rest of becoming a student.

At each of these stages, the details you entered during registration get checked again, from your name to your O’level records to your choices. That is why this guide keeps hammering accuracy. Everything you do in that CBT centre in January follows you to matriculation.

Your study plan between now and the exam

Most candidates checking dates skip this part, which is a shame, because the months before registration opens are the cheapest, calmest study time you will ever get. From now to April is enough time to transform a score if you use it. Here is how I would structure it.

Now to December: build the foundation. Get the official JAMB syllabus for your four subjects and work through it topic by topic, using your school notes and textbooks to close gaps. The syllabus marks the exam’s boundary. Nothing outside it appears, and everything inside it is fair game. I have broken the syllabus down topic by topic for Biology and Chemistry if those are in your combination. Aim to touch every topic at least once before registration opens.

January to February: register early, then switch to past questions. Handle your registration in the first two weeks of the window, then let past questions carry your preparation. They show you how the exam asks things: how questions are phrased, which topics repeat, and where the traps sit. Work them by topic first, then by full papers.

March: simulate the real thing. If you paid for the mock UTME, treat it seriously, with the same wake-up time and the same focus as the main exam. Whether or not you sit the mock, do timed, full-length practice on a computer if you possibly can, because CBT speed is a skill of its own. Many candidates know the answers but run out of clock.

April: revise, do not cram. The final weeks are for going over your weak topics, resting properly, and confirming your exam logistics: your centre, your date, your e-Slip. Candidates who arrive calm and rested consistently outperform candidates who studied all night.

Tips for a smooth registration

• Register early. Do not wait for the final days. Late registration brings long queues, system slowdowns, biometric failures, and NIN delays, any of which can cost you the exam.
• Use only approved centres. It is the only way to be sure your registration counts.
• Double-check your details. Your personal information must match your official records exactly. A single misspelt name can haunt you all the way to NYSC.
• Practice with past questions. They build both speed and confidence for the CBT format.
• Follow the JAMB syllabus. It tells you exactly what to study, so you are not reading blind.
• Keep every slip and printout. Registration e-Slip, payment evidence, profile details: one folder, physical and digital.

Getting help

If you run into trouble, JAMB offers several support routes: state offices for general queries, zonal offices for escalated issues, the official portal for checking results and printing slips, and the CBT centres for technical help during registration. For profile and NIN-related problems, start with the support channels early, because these issues rarely resolve in a day.

Frequently asked questions

When is JAMB 2027 starting? JAMB 2027 registration is expected to open in late January 2027, with the main UTME exam expected in April 2027. JAMB has not released the official dates yet; these projections follow the confirmed 2025 and 2026 calendars.

When is JAMB 2027 registration starting in Nigeria? Registration is projected to open in the last week of January 2027 and close in late February or early March 2027. Confirm the official window on the JAMB portal once it is announced.

When is the JAMB 2027 exam starting and ending? The main UTME is expected to run over several days in April 2027, following the pattern of 2026, when the exam held from 16 to 25 April.

Do I need a NIN to register for JAMB 2027? Yes. The NIN is compulsory for every candidate, and you cannot create a JAMB profile without it. Enrol at a NIMC centre early if you do not have one.

How do I create my JAMB profile? Send your NIN by SMS to 55019 or 66019 in the format NIN followed by your number, and you will receive a profile code on that phone number.

How much is JAMB 2027 registration? JAMB has not announced 2027 fees. For reference, the 2026 total came to about ₦7,200 (application fee ₦3,500, reading text ₦1,000, CBT registration charge ₦700, CBT UTME charge ₦1,500, bank charges ₦500), with the optional mock adding ₦1,500.

How many subjects will I write in the UTME? Four. English Language is compulsory for every candidate, and the remaining three subjects must match the requirements for your intended course in the official JAMB brochure.

Can I register for JAMB 2027 with awaiting results? Yes, you can register while awaiting your O’level results. Your admission, however, will depend on presenting the required credentials, so make sure your results will be available before admissions are processed.

What happens if I miss the JAMB 2027 registration deadline? There is no late registration. If you miss the window, you wait for the next year’s cycle. This is exactly why registering in the first two weeks is the single best piece of registration advice anyone can give you.

Can Direct Entry candidates use the same dates? No. Direct Entry registration usually opens later than UTME and runs longer, and it is handled at JAMB’s state and zonal offices.

Final thoughts

Knowing when JAMB 2027 starts is the first move in your admission journey. The calendar is predictable: expect registration to open in late January 2027 and the exam to follow in April, but always confirm the official dates on the JAMB portal before you act. Bookmark the portal, get your NIN sorted early, choose your course and institution deliberately, and put the months between now and the exam to work with the syllabus and past questions.

Every cycle, the candidates who planned ahead walk into their CBT centre calm while everyone else fights deadline queues. Once JAMB announces the official 2027 dates, I will update this page the same day.

Official source

Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB): https://www.jamb.gov.ng/