Accepting on CAPS is step one, not the finish. After that, you still have to: print your JAMB admission letter, accept on your institution’s own portal if it has one, pay its acceptance fee, complete clearance/screening, and register for your courses. Each of those has its own deadline, set by the institution — not by JAMB.
Candidates lose admission after CAPS acceptance more often than you’d think, and almost always for the same reason: they assumed CAPS acceptance was the whole process, and missed an institution deadline that came after it.
Step 1: Print your JAMB admission letter
Log in at efacility.jamb.gov.ng, open the admission letter service, and print your JAMB admission letter. This is a paid e-Facility service; the amount is shown on the portal at checkout.
Print it, and save a PDF copy as well. You will need the letter for clearance, for registration on your institution’s portal, and for credential verification. If the portal provides both a candidate copy and an institution copy, print both.
If your institution’s portal does not show your admission yet, allow 24–48 hours for the two systems to synchronise. If it still does not show after a few days, take your printed JAMB admission letter to the institution’s admission office — that letter is your proof.
Step 2: Accept on your institution’s portal
Many institutions have their own acceptance step, separate from CAPS. Log in to the institution’s admission portal (the address will be on its admission notice or website — type it yourself, do not click a link from a random group), confirm your admission there, and note every deadline it shows.
This step is where candidates get caught out: the institution’s deadline is not the CAPS deadline, and it is often shorter. Treat the institution’s portal as the source of truth for everything after CAPS.
Step 3: Pay the acceptance fee
Your institution sets its own acceptance fee and deadline. Pay it through the institution’s official payment channel only, and keep the receipt — printed and as a PDF.
Do not pay an acceptance fee to an individual, to a personal account, or through a link sent by someone claiming to be from the school. If you are unsure whether a payment page is genuine, confirm it with the institution’s admission office or bursary before paying.
Acceptance fees are institution-specific. Any guide giving you a single national figure for “the acceptance fee” is misleading you — your institution’s notice is the only figure that matters for you.
Step 4: Clearance and screening
After acceptance, institutions run clearance or physical screening, where your documents are checked against your records. The institution will publish its own list; a typical list includes:
- JAMB admission letter (printed)
- JAMB original result slip
- O’Level result(s) — the same ones uploaded on CAPS
- Birth certificate or age declaration
- Local government / state of origin identification, where required
- Passport photographs, to the institution’s specification
- Acceptance fee receipt
Check the institution’s list, not a generic one, and bring originals plus photocopies where asked. The commonest clearance failures are simple: a name mismatch between documents, a missing O’Level upload on CAPS, or an admission letter that was never printed.
If a document has a genuine error (for example, a name spelling difference), raise it with the institution’s admission office early in clearance — not at the end of the process, when options are fewer.
Step 5: Course registration and resumption
Once cleared, you register for your courses on the institution’s portal, within its registration window. This is a separate step from acceptance, and it has its own deadline and, at most institutions, its own fees (school fees, separate from the acceptance fee).
After registration, follow the institution’s resumption notice for your department and level: lecture start dates, hostel allocation where applicable, and any departmental registration. CAPS will not tell you any of this — the institution will, through its portal and notices.
A checklist you can actually use
- [ ] Accepted on CAPS, and confirmed the acceptance on CAPS itself
- [ ] JAMB admission letter printed, PDF saved
- [ ] Accepted on the institution’s portal, deadlines noted
- [ ] Institution acceptance fee paid through the official channel, receipt kept
- [ ] Clearance documents gathered, names checked across all documents
- [ ] Clearance/screening completed
- [ ] Courses registered on the institution’s portal
- [ ] Resumption dates and departmental notices noted
Mistakes after acceptance that cost candidates their place
- Missing the institution’s acceptance deadline while assuming CAPS acceptance was enough.
- Paying fees through unofficial channels and having no valid receipt when clearance asks for one.
- Never printing the JAMB admission letter, then discovering at clearance that a screenshot of CAPS is not a substitute.
- Ignoring a name or document mismatch until clearance, when it becomes urgent instead of routine.
- Stopping at acceptance and not registering for courses, then finding the registration window closed.
Related Guides & Next Steps
- How to Accept Admission on JAMB CAPS
- How to Check Admission Status on JAMB CAPS
- How to Check JAMB Result Online
- JAMB CAPS Explained for First-Time Candidates
- How University Admission Works in Nigeria
Frequently asked questions
I accepted on CAPS. Am I now a student of that institution? You are admitted on JAMB’s record. You become a fully registered student once you complete the institution’s acceptance, clearance and course registration. All of those steps matter.
How long do I have after CAPS acceptance to do the institution steps? As long as the institution gives you — and that varies. Check its portal and notices immediately after accepting on CAPS; do not assume a standard window.
What if my institution’s portal still doesn’t show me after a week? Take your printed JAMB admission letter to the institution’s admission office and ask them to check. Do not wait silently until a deadline passes.
Can I defer after accepting on CAPS? Deferment is an institution decision, not a CAPS button. Ask the institution’s admission office about its deferment process and deadlines before you assume you can pause.
What if I accepted on CAPS but now want a different school? Accepting removes you from the CAPS pool for other institutions in that cycle. Changing after acceptance requires going through JAMB and the institutions involved, and depends on slot availability. It is not a routine option — which is why the accept decision itself deserves care.
Sources and last update
- Post-acceptance sequence (admission letter, institution portal acceptance, acceptance fee, clearance, course registration), cross-checked across multiple independent JAMB guides; institution-specific amounts and deadlines explicitly left to the institution’s own notices, rather than asserted as national figures.
Last updated: 24 October 2026. Evergreen guide — review every 3–6 months and on every JAMB admission-cycle announcement.