The decision was contained in the newly released NCE/ND Agric Registration Guidelines issued by the Registrar’s Office in June 2026, marking a significant change in Nigeria’s teacher education framework.
Under the new arrangement, the Nigeria Certificate in Education (NCE) will become the only admission pathway into colleges of education, effectively bringing an end to the long-standing practice that allowed such institutions to award university degrees through affiliations with conventional universities.
According to the guidelines, “no admission into any affiliated programme in any college of education from the 2026/2027 session.”
The board further stated: “With effect from 2026/7 session, no admission into 100 or 200 Level is allowed into any college of education. All entrants are through NCE.”
The policy also abolishes direct entry into 100 and 200 levels in colleges of education, making the NCE programme compulsory for all new students seeking admission into the institutions.
For candidates who had earlier chosen affiliated colleges of education for degree programmes through Direct Entry, JAMB outlined several alternatives. Such candidates may change their institution without paying any fee, transfer to the parent university affiliated with the degree programme, or allow their second-choice institution to become their first choice for admission consideration.
“A candidate may choose to be moved to the parent university to which the degree programme is affiliated,” the board said.
JAMB added that affected candidates were given until June 22 to complete any desired changes.
Similarly, candidates seeking admission into 100 level through the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) and who selected affiliated colleges of education have been offered three options: change institution, upgrade their second-choice institution to first choice, or migrate to the NCE programme.
The board explained that candidates opting for the NCE route would need to obtain an O-Level verification code from the relevant examination body and pay a registration fee of N700 through the JAMB portal.
“The candidate may be moved to the NCE programme of the institution, on the understanding that the choice of the college of education indicates an interest in pursuing the NCE qualification,” JAMB explained.
In addition, the board introduced compulsory O-Level verification for all NCE applicants. The verification fee was fixed at N1,500 for candidates with one sitting and N2,000 for those presenting results from two sittings.
JAMB directed colleges of education, Institutional Professional Registration Centres (IPRCs), Professional Registration Centres (PRCs), accredited Computer-Based Test (CBT) centres and its officials nationwide to familiarize themselves with the guidelines and ensure full compliance.
“All PRCs, IPRCs and officers of the board are to study the guidelines and ensure strict compliance with the information contained therein,” the Registrar stated.
For many years, affiliated degree programmes enabled colleges of education to partner with universities and award Bachelor’s degrees to students who completed their studies within the colleges. However, the latest policy ends that arrangement for fresh admissions from the 2026/2027 academic session and reinforces the NCE as the foundational qualification for teacher education in Nigeria.
The guidelines also stress that applying for NCE admission constitutes a deliberate choice and that any candidate recommended for admission into an NCE programme would automatically have any ongoing UTME or Direct Entry admission process suspended.
“Anyone who chooses NCE and s/he is proposed/recommended would have any ongoing UTME/DE process suspended,” the board stated.
JAMB further noted that candidates who applied through the 2026 UTME would have their details automatically migrated to their selected first-choice college of education or agric-related non-technology National Diploma programmes where applicable.