JAMB CAPS Shut Down Amid Peak Admission Period

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board has announced the temporary shutdown of its Central Admissions Processing System, CAPS, amid the ongoing 2026 admission exercise across tertiary institutions in Nigeria.

The disruption, which began around Wednesday, has affected candidates attempting to access the platform to check their admission status, accept offers and complete other admission-related processes.

JAMB attributed the outage to technical challenges associated with the hosting arrangements for the CAPS platform.

The Board said it had commenced intensive discussions with the organisation responsible for hosting the system and was working to restore the platform to full functionality as quickly as possible.

CAPS is JAMB’s central platform for coordinating admissions into universities, polytechnics and colleges of education. The system allows candidates to view admission offers and indicate whether they accept or reject them.

The timing of the outage has heightened concerns among candidates because institutions are currently processing admissions for the 2026 academic session.

Some candidates have reported difficulties loading the platform, while others said they were redirected or received messages indicating that the website was unavailable.

JAMB acknowledged the importance of the platform at this stage of the admission process and apologised for the inconvenience caused to candidates, institutions and other stakeholders.

The Board said it was providing the update to prevent speculation about the cause of the disruption while efforts to resolve the technical problem continue.

JAMB did not provide a specific timeline for when CAPS would be fully restored but assured users that work was ongoing.

The disruption also comes shortly before the September 30 deadline for candidates with pending admission offers to accept or reject them. JAMB had previously announced the deadline as the final window for candidates with outstanding offers dating from 2021 to the current admission cycle.

Candidates have therefore been advised to remain patient while the Board works with the hosting organisation to restore access.

JAMB also said it would provide further updates as developments unfold.

The Board is expected to review the circumstances surrounding the outage after the platform is restored, particularly given the critical role CAPS plays in Nigeria’s admission process.