JAMB REPORTS OVER 706000 ADMISSION SPACES STILL VACANT

JAMB data has shown that more than 706,000 admission spaces remain unfilled in Nigeria’s 2025 UTME cycle. The report points to low interest in several programmes despite available quotas.

Legitdan news report that as of May 11, 2026, data from the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board shows that out of more than 1.7 million available admission slots in Nigeria 2025 UTME cycle, about 1,009,736 candidates have been placed in tertiary institutions, leaving 706,418 spaces still vacant.

The report highlighted a major imbalance in course choices, with strong demand for professional programmes such as Medicine, Nursing, Law, and Engineering, while courses in Education, Agriculture, and Nigeria Certificate in Education programmes recorded low enrolment.

Colleges of Education were the most affected, using only about 10 percent of their available quota, while Innovative Enterprise Institutions also recorded very low admissions.

According to JAMB, the gap was caused by candidates preference for a few popular courses, missing O Level results, wrong subject combinations, and refusal to accept available alternatives.

To address the challenge, the Federal Government has removed Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination requirements for NCE and some agriculture related programmes in a bid to boost admissions, improve teacher training, and encourage more students to fill available spaces.