The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board has shifted gears for the 2026 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination registration and testing process. This year, JAMB will monitor all Computer-Based Test centres in real time using live CCTV feeds from its national headquarters in Abuja. It’s a significant change, and it’s sparking conversation across the education community.
The move comes as part of a broader effort by JAMB to clamp down on irregularities that have long shadowed the UTME process. In recent years, questions about impersonation, photo manipulation, collusion inside centres, and other forms of malpractice have become increasingly visible. Last year alone, nearly forty thousand candidates had their results withheld amid suspected fraud. To address these concerns, the Board introduced what it calls the “No Vision, No Registration, No UTME” policy, which essentially means that centres must be “visible” in real time in order to be allowed to register candidates or host exams. This live monitoring requirement speaks to a core objective: making the UTME more credible and fair for the large number of students who sit it every year.
Under the new system, every approved CBT centre in Nigeria must install live cameras on site. The Board has specified that only certain camera brands and setups will be accepted, and all centres must upgrade or migrate to standardized CCTV systems with a minimum number of monitoring channels covering examination halls, biometric verification areas, server rooms, walkways, entry and exit points, and other key spaces. Centres that cannot provide live feeds back to Abuja risk having their registrations invalidated and may not receive any payment for their services. JAMB has also made it clear that it will not fund these upgrades; centres must shoulder the cost themselves. Alongside the live feeds, certain types of cameras have been mandated for official use during the registration process to ensure that candidate photos are captured consistently and without manipulation.
The implications of this change are complex and multi-layered. On one hand, candidates and parents have welcomed the stricter oversight. Many feel that continuous live monitoring could reduce common malpractice tactics, such as cheating, impersonation, and unauthorized assistance during exams. For students who study earnestly and want their performance judged fairly, this policy can feel like a long-overdue step toward restoring trust in the system.
On the other hand, the requirement places new financial and technical burdens on CBT centres. Many of these centres operate on thin margins, and upgrading to high-specification CCTV equipment, plus the infrastructure to stream live to Abuja, will require investment. For smaller or rural centres, this could mean difficult decisions about whether they can afford to participate or risk being excluded. If some centres lose accreditation or choose not to upgrade, candidates in certain regions may face fewer options for registration and testing.
There are also broader questions about implementation and effectiveness. Live monitoring is one thing, but it requires stable power, reliable internet connectivity, and robust network speeds which frankly are conditions that vary significantly across the country. JAMB’s initiative assumes that these technical foundations are in place, at least at accredited centres. Whether the policy translates into smoother, more secure examinations in practice remains to be seen once the UTME registration and testing are fully underway.
One thing is clear: JAMB is signalling that it wants the UTME to be taken seriously and it’s not just as a bureaucratic hurdle but as a legitimate, merit-based gateway to higher education. By centralizing oversight and insisting on real-time visibility, the Board is trying to raise the bar on examination integrity. For students, parents, and educators, that ambition is welcome, provided the execution matches the intention, and that access to credible testing does not become more difficult for those already facing hurdles.
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