Higher education think tank calls for transparency from new JAMB registrar

As preparations gather pace for the 2027 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), a policy think tank has called on the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) to publish data on admission trends and access gaps in tertiary education. Higher education policy think tank iRead To Live Initiative called on JAMB, under newly appointed Registrar Segun Aina, to publish comprehensive data on tertiary admissions and candidate performance ahead of the 2027 UTME cycle.

The group made the demand in its inaugural policy brief, titled The Admissions Gap: Who Gets into Nigeria’s Tertiary Institutions, and Why It Matters, released in August 2026. The initiative urged Aina to release admissions and performance data in an aggregated, anonymised, and machine-readable format to enable policymakers, institutions, and independent researchers to pinpoint structural access barriers.

Think Tank Calls for Granular Admissions Data and Cut-Off Evidence

According to the initiative, data should be disaggregated by state, local government area, geopolitical zone, gender, subject, and institution, backed by precise definitions. iRead To Live Initiative Executive Director Jacob Sule stated that greater transparency in admissions data would help the country pinpoint where higher education barriers concentrate.

“JAMB already collects most of this information to administer registration and admissions, and publishing it responsibly would let government, universities, and independent researchers see where access gaps are concentrated,” Sule said.

The think tank also called on the board to publish the empirical evidence used to determine collectively agreed UTME cut-off marks. The group noted that the public deserves to understand the rationale behind decisions governing university access. Releasing these figures would clarify national priorities across Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) and non-STEM disciplines.

Unused Tertiary Capacity Highlights Mismatch Between Preference and Access

The brief recommended that JAMB introduce an annual admissions and access report after every admission cycle. This report would reconcile applicant-level admission figures with approved institutional capacity, eliminating discrepancies where different JAMB datasets yield conflicting interpretations of the same cycle.

The brief revealed that 1,009,736 of the 1,716,154 approved tertiary admission places were filled nationally in 2025, leaving 706,418 places unused. This represented an overall fill rate of 58.8 percent. Universities recorded a 74 percent fill rate, whereas polytechnics, colleges of education, and other tertiary institutions recorded a 34.3 percent fill rate.

The group argued that these figures demonstrate Nigeria’s tertiary education challenge is not merely a physical shortage of admission spaces. Instead, a structural mismatch exists between available capacity and candidates’ preferences, qualifications, and regional access.

“Nigeria’s tertiary institutions did not run out of room in 2025,” the brief noted. “Hundreds of thousands of approved seats went unused even as public conversation focused on candidates who could not gain a place at all”.

Policy Group Advises Caution on Digital Infrastructure Reforms

A complete understanding of these structural access problems requires JAMB to publish candidate score distributions and local availability of computer-based testing (CBT) facilities, the group added. The initiative advised the board to pilot and independently evaluate its proposed Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) option before initiating a full national rollout.

Such a pilot must include independent penetration testing and clear public standards covering hardware, digital security, and equity. Candidates without personal devices must not face disadvantages during any transition to a BYOD model.

The group further called for expanded CBT access and readiness support across all six geopolitical zones, including a free, universally accessible preparation module. The brief stressed that completion of any digital preparation module must never become a mandatory barrier to examination registration.

Leadership Transition Offers Opportunity for Structural Reform

The recommendations arrive as Aina assumes leadership of the board and prepares the agency for the 2027 UTME cycle. Aina succeeded former JAMB Registrar Is-haq Oloyede on Friday, July 31, 2026.

The group noted that the leadership transition offers a prime opportunity to deepen computer-based testing and admissions reforms by institutionalising data transparency.

In 2026, JAMB registered 2,243,816 UTME candidates, though that admission cycle remains ongoing. The initiative concluded that available 2025 performance data provides sufficient empirical evidence for stakeholders to address the structural causes of unfilled places and unequal access.