FG Scraps UTME Requirement For NCE , As LASU , UNILAG, OAU Become Most Subscribed Varsities

Federal Government has removed the academic hurdle of writing Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) for candidates seeking admission into Nigeria Certificate in Education (NCE) programmes in colleges of education in the country, restricting the requirement to the Ordinary Level Certificate obtained at Secondary Schools 

However, Lagos State University, Ojo again emerged as most subscribed institution with 84,426 candidates as revealed on Monday during the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board's 2026 policy meeting in Abuja

The Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, speaking at the policy meeting, explained that the prospective students for NCE programmes under the new guidelines, will only need a minimum of four O-level credits in school certificate to qualify for admission into the colleges of education 

According to the minister, the move is designed to ease the administrative burden on the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB).

On the list of the most sought-after institutions, LASU, University of Lagos and Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife (Osun State ) emerged as the top three 

University of Ibadan, ( Oyo State )University of Benin, (Edo State ),Nnamdi Azikwe University, Awka , (Anambra state), University of Ilorin (Kwara State), University of Nigeria Nsukka, (Enugu State), Federal University of Oye-Ekiti, (Ekiti State) and University of Port- Harcourt ( Rivers State) complete the top ten most subscribed institutions nationwide