The Nigeria Education Repository and Databank (NERD), under the Federal Ministry of Education, has issued an important public clarification regarding the transitional period for NERD Compliance Clearance (NCC), the status of Batch C candidates, and the official commencement date for the 2026 compliance registration exercise.
The latest update, released on 8th December 2025, follows widespread inquiries from institutions, students, and NYSC-bound graduates after the government’s directive on mandatory NERD clearance took effect on 6th October 2025.
According to NERD, all students whose mobilisation processes started before October 6, 2025, fall within the approved transitional window and are exempt from the newly-enforced NERD clearance requirement.
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This exemption officially includes all 2025 Batch C NYSC candidates, irrespective of stream. The agency stressed that Batch C remains Batch C, and all its sub-streams — Stream 1, Stream 2, the January intake, and others — began their processes before the cut-off date. Therefore, they do not fall under NERD mandatory compliance.
NERD explained that its mandatory coverage only applies to students whose mobilisation or graduation processing began from (and after) October 6, 2025. Anyone whose process started earlier is exempt and will not be subjected to NERD compliance enforcement.
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The Secretariat also announced that the NERD registration and enrolment portal will officially open on 6th January 2026 for students participating in 2026 NYSC Batch A mobilisation.
Students and institutions were warned not to attempt registration before the official date, as no enrolment submitted earlier will be recognised or validated by the system.
All registration activities conducted on or after the approved commencement date will be valid for NERD verification, processing, and record confirmation.
NERD urged school administrators, faculty, supervisors, co-supervisors, and external examiners to visit their NERD dashboards and begin familiarising themselves with the updated verification tools ahead of the 2026 enrolment schedule.
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The Secretariat also revealed that NERD is working with ICT entrepreneurs and businesses across the country to set up NERD Digital Service Centres (NERD DSCs). These centres will be run by certified NERD Enrolment Centre Operators and will support students with record digitisation, validation, data entry, and error correction.
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