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JAMB Direct Entry 2026: Fee, Where to Register and the Timing Trap

Yomi Black Updated 15 September 2026 3 min read
On this page
  1. You cannot register at a CBT centre
  2. Who qualifies
  3. The timing trap
  4. Registration itself
  5. Sources

Direct Entry is how holders of an advanced qualification enter a Nigerian degree at 200 level instead of starting at 100. It costs ₦5,700 and it is registered through JAMB, the same board that runs the UTME. The most important thing to understand about it is what it is not.

Direct Entry is not an examinationThere is no Direct Entry exam. You do not sit anything, there is no CBT centre, no 180 questions, no score out of 400. Direct Entry is a registration, in which you tell JAMB which qualification you already hold and which institution and course you want. The examination you sat was your A level, JUPEB, IJMB, ND or NCE. Candidates regularly search for “Direct Entry past questions”, and none exist, because there is no paper to set questions on.

Direct Entry at a glance
Fee
₦5,700
Where you register
JAMB zonal and state offices only. Not CBT centres
2026 window
2 March to 25 April 2026
Examination
None. This is a registration, not an exam
Entry point
200 level
NIN
Required, same profile code process as the UTME

You cannot register at a CBT centre

UTME candidates register at accredited CBT centres. Direct Entry candidates cannot. The ePIN is sold and the registration is done only at JAMB zonal and state offices.

This sends a steady stream of DE candidates to CBT centres that cannot help them, and creates an opening for agents who offer to “handle it”. Go to a JAMB office.

Who qualifies

Broadly, anyone holding a qualification above O level that an institution accepts for 200 level entry:

  • JUPEB, one session at an accredited university centre
  • IJMB, the Ahmadu Bello University A level route
  • Cambridge A Level, including papers sat through the British Council
  • National Diploma from a polytechnic
  • Nigeria Certificate in Education

Your O level requirements still apply. A Direct Entry candidate still needs five credits including English and Mathematics where the course demands them. The advanced qualification adds to your O level, it does not replace it.

The timing trap

DE closes before your results arriveIn 2026 Direct Entry registration ran 2 March to 25 April. JUPEB examinations are usually sat in June, with results two to three months later. The registration window therefore closes months before a current JUPEB or IJMB candidate has a result in hand. You register on the strength of the qualification you are completing, not one you already hold. Miss the window and you wait a full year regardless of how well you did.

This single mismatch is the most expensive mistake in the pre-degree route, and neither JUPEB nor IJMB centres reliably warn candidates about it. Put the DE window in your calendar the day you enrol, not the day you finish.

Registration itself

The NIN and profile code process is identical to the UTME: send NIN, a space, then your eleven-digit number, to 55019 or 66019 from your own phone. Biodata comes from NIMC, so any error must be corrected at NIMC first. Full detail is on the JAMB UTME page.

What happens after registration, how institutions screen Direct Entry candidates and how places are allocated, belongs to the admission process rather than the examination, and is outside what this site covers.

Sources

  1. JAMB Bulletin, 19 January 2026. Direct Entry fee, and the rule that DE is sold and registered only at JAMB zonal and state offices.
  2. JAMB Bulletin, 23 February 2026. The 2026 Direct Entry registration window.
  3. JAMB FAQ, jamb.gov.ng. NIN and profile code process, shared with the UTME.
  4. JUPEB FAQ, jupeb.edu.ng/faq. Examination and result timing, used to establish the window mismatch.

The Direct Entry fee and window change each cycle. Reviewed each February, when JAMB publishes the DE dates.