The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has officially set 150 as the minimum cut-off mark for admission into universities across Nigeria for the 2025/2026 academic session.
The announcement was made on Tuesday during the annual Policy Meeting on Admissions, which took place at the Bola Ahmed Tinubu International Conference Centre in Abuja and was attended by key education stakeholders nationwide.
As part of the resolutions reached at the meeting, JAMB disclosed that the agreed minimum admissible scores for other categories of institutions include 140 for colleges of nursing, and 100 for both polytechnics and colleges of education.
The decision, the Board noted, was reached collectively by the heads of tertiary institutions and other relevant stakeholders involved in the admission process.
“The minimum admissible scores for admissions for the next academic session have been fixed at 150 for universities, 100 for polytechnics, 100 for colleges of education, and 140 for colleges of nursing sciences by the stakeholders (Heads of Tertiary Institutions),” JAMB confirmed via a post on its official X (formerly Twitter) handle.
This year’s policy decision follows months of scrutiny over the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), during which JAMB admitted to technical glitches that affected some candidates’ ability to complete the exam. In response, a rescheduled UTME was organized to ensure all affected students had a fair opportunity to participate.
In a related development, the Federal Government has now instituted a minimum age requirement for prospective tertiary institution candidates.
Announcing the new policy at the same admissions meeting, Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, revealed that the government has pegged 16 years as the minimum age for candidates seeking admission into universities, polytechnics, and other higher institutions.
According to the Minister, enforcement of the age limit will be carried out through JAMB’s Central Admissions Processing System (CAPS), which will automatically screen out candidates who fall below the age threshold.
However, provisions will be made to accommodate applicants who turn 16 on or before August 31, 2025, in a bid to ensure inclusivity.
The age restriction aims to align Nigeria’s education system with global best practices and safeguard the emotional and psychological readiness of candidates entering tertiary education.
Alausa emphasized that the policy is not intended to exclude young talents but to maintain academic standards and ensure a more robust and mature student population at the tertiary level.
The combination of a standardized cut-off mark and the age requirement marks a significant step in refining the nation’s tertiary admission processes, as authorities continue to prioritize transparency, fairness, and academic excellence.
What You Should Know
For the 2025/2026 session, JAMB has set 150 as the cut-off mark for universities and introduced a minimum age of 16 for admission into all tertiary institutions.
The new age policy will be enforced through JAMB’s CAPS system, with exceptions made for those turning 16 by August 31, 2025.
