JAMB to screen 500 exceptional underage candidates for 2025/2026 University admissions

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has announced that over 500 exceptional candidates below the age of 16 will undergo a special screening for possible admission into Nigerian tertiary institutions for the 2025/2026 academic session.

According to resolutions from a virtual stakeholders’ meeting held on Wednesday, the screening exercise will run from September 22 to 26, 2025, and will be conducted by a special technical committee set up by JAMB.

JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, disclosed that three screening centres have been designated, Lagos (397 candidates), Owerri (136), and Abuja (66). He explained that the initiative follows the performance of 41,027 underage candidates in the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), of which only a fraction met the preliminary criteria.

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“People have been doing it in other parts of the world. We are not reinventing the wheel,” Oloyede said.

Only candidates who meet the following requirements will be considered: Minimum UTME score of 320 (80%); At least 80% in post-UTME; 80% (24/30 points) in a single sitting of WAEC or NECO

The screening will include subject-specific tests, a brief oral interview, and verification of results from the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) for shortlisted candidates.

A subcommittee led by Prof. Taoheed Adedoja is overseeing the process, which seeks to strike a balance between academic excellence and cognitive maturity, while discouraging age falsification and protecting young candidates from excessive parental pressure.

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JAMB confirmed that some institutions, including the Air Force Institute of Technology, Kaduna; Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi; University of Jos; and Osun State University, have already stated they will not admit underage candidates under any circumstances.

The policy aligns with the Federal Ministry of Education’s directive setting 16 years as the minimum entry age for Nigerian universities.

Out of the 1.955 million candidates who sat for the 2025 UTME, 599 scored above 300 but were below the age limit, prompting the new screening initiative. The process drew input from universities, government agencies, civil society groups, the Nigerian Academy of Education, and the Federal Government Gifted Academy, Suleja.