The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has extended the deadline for candidates offered admission between 2021 and 2026 to either accept or reject their outstanding admission offers.

The deadline, which was initially set for Monday, August 31, 2026, has now been moved to Wednesday, September 30, 2026.

The Acting Director of Public Affairs and Protocol, Fabian Benjamin, announced the extension in a statement posted on X on Saturday.

JAMB described the extension as a final opportunity for affected candidates to make a decision on their pending admission offers.

“Candidates with pending admission offers who have not yet accepted or rejected (regular or CUIIA) such offers are strongly advised to do so before 30 September 2026,” Benjamin said.

The board advised candidates against waiting until the final day, warning that failure to act within the stipulated period would have consequences for the status of their admissions.

“Candidates should not wait until the deadline, as failure to take action within the stipulated period will have consequences for the status of such admissions,” JAMB stated.

According to the board, candidates who accept their admission offers will be able to proceed with printing and obtaining their admission letters.

Those who reject their offers, however, will have their admission status changed to “Not Admitted”.

“Those who reject their offers will have their dashboards reverted to ‘Not Admitted’, enabling the Board to update its records and ensure that its admission data accurately reflects the current status of candidates,” the board said.

JAMB also provided guidance for candidates who are no longer studying at the institutions where their earlier admissions were offered or are currently enrolled in programmes different from those contained in their previous admission offers.

According to the board, such candidates may first accept the outstanding admission and subsequently apply for the appropriate correction or deletion of the admission, depending on their circumstances.

“This will enable the Board to appropriately update the candidate’s admission status and records,” JAMB added.

The board also addressed candidates currently pursuing a second degree while still having an earlier admission offer that remains unaccepted.

“Similarly, candidates who are currently pursuing a second degree but still have a previous admission offer that remains unaccepted may go ahead and reject such an offer and continue with their current programme,” JAMB said.

It further assured candidates who have secured admission during the 2026 admission exercise that rejecting an earlier outstanding offer would not affect their new admission.

“Such candidates may reject the previous admission offer, and doing so will have no adverse effect whatsoever on their 2026 admission,” the board stated.

JAMB said the extension was granted to give all affected candidates sufficient time to clearly indicate whether they wished to accept or reject their outstanding admission offers.

“The Board is providing this extension to give all affected candidates one final opportunity to indicate clearly whether they wish to accept or reject their outstanding admission offers,” it said.

The board added that the measure would also help it maintain “accurate, current and reliable national admission records.”

However, JAMB stressed that there would be no further extension after September 30, 2026.

“The Board wishes to emphasise that there will be no further opportunity after the expiration of the extended deadline on Wednesday, 30 September 2026,” it warned.

It added that all outstanding admission offers from 2021 to date that remain neither accepted nor rejected by the deadline would automatically be reverted to “Not Admitted” status.

“At the expiration of the deadline, all outstanding admission offers from 2021 to date that have neither been accepted nor rejected will automatically be reverted to ‘Not Admitted’ status and will remain so on the Board’s records,” JAMB stated.

The board therefore urged all affected candidates to act promptly rather than wait until the deadline.

“Failure to accept an admission offer within the stipulated period will render the offer invalid,” JAMB warned.