No fewer than 22,537,451 candidates registered for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination and Direct Entry between 2015 and 2026, a report by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board has revealed.
Figures released by the board and obtained by our correspondent on Saturday indicated that the statistics were compiled while the 2026 DE registration exercise was still ongoing.
According to the data, UTME accounted for the highest number of registrations during the period, recording about 21.26 million candidates, while approximately 1.28 million applicants registered through DE.
The board’s records showed that 1,644,072 candidates registered in 2015, comprising 1,475,600 UTME candidates and 168,472 DE applicants.
In 2016, registrations increased to 1,764,859, with 1,592,462 candidates for UTME and 172,397 for DE.
A total of 1,882,559 candidates registered in 2017 cycle, including 1,722,269 for UTME and 160,290 for DE.
In 2018, the figure declined to 1,793,018, with 1,653,127 UTME and 139,891 DE candidates.
Registrations rose again in 2019 to 1,989,682, with 1,886,509 UTME and 103,173 DE applicants, and increased further in 2020 to 2,110,623, comprising 1,949,983 UTME and 160,640 DE candidates.
In 2021, the board recorded a drop to 1,428,209 total registrations, made up of 1,351,284 UTME and 76,925 Direct Entry applicants.
This was followed by a rebound in 2022, when 1,859,532 candidates registered, including 1,761,262 UTME and 98,270 DE.
The 2023 cycle saw registrations fall again to 1,635,673, with 1,595,779 UTME and 39,894 DE candidates.
However, numbers climbed in 2024 to 2,040,018, comprising 1,992,660 UTME and 47,358 DE registrations.
In 2025, a total of 2,093,329 candidates registered, made up of 2,031,754 UTME and 62,205 DE applicants.
For 2026, the board recorded 2,295,877 total registrations, consisting of 2,243,245 UTME and 52,632 DE candidates.
Meanwhile, JAMB and stakeholders in the tertiary education sector recently approved 150 as the minimum admission benchmark for universities for the 2026/2027 academic session.
The decision was reached on Monday during the 2026 annual policy meeting on admissions into tertiary institutions held in Abuja.
The meeting also adopted 100 as the minimum score for admission into polytechnics and colleges of education, while Colleges of Nursing fixed 150 as their admission benchmark.
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