- JAMB Reiterates 16-Year Minimum Admission Age
- New UTME results will show national ranking from 2025.
- Backdoor underage admissions declared illegal and null.
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has reiterated that the minimum age for admission into Nigeria’s tertiary institutions remains 16 years. This was confirmed during the 2025 Policy Meeting on Admissions held on Tuesday at the Bola Ahmed Tinubu International Conference Centre, Abuja.
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EKO HOT BLOG reports that the meeting, which brought together top officials from universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education, focused on policies guiding the 2025/2026 academic session. JAMB emphasized that its Central Admissions Processing System (CAPS) is designed to enforce the age requirement, with a slight concession for candidates who will turn 16 by August 31, 2025.
Despite this policy, JAMB expressed concern over reports of institutions conducting illegal backdoor admissions for underage candidates. “Some institutions admitted candidates not up to 16 outside CAPS and collected huge tuition fees from them,” the Board noted, declaring such admissions null and void. Legal action has reportedly been initiated in some cases.
In a significant new policy, JAMB announced that national ranking positions will now appear on UTME result slips, starting from 2025. This measure is aimed at curbing the celebration of raw scores and fostering a more comprehensive understanding of a candidate’s performance relative to peers.
Illustrating the ranking system with 2025 UTME data from 1,905,539 candidates:
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Score of 370 ranked 16th
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320 ranked 5,806th
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250 ranked 107,819th
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200 ranked 533,805th
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180 ranked 948,025th
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140 ranked 1,855,607th
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120 ranked 1,900,872nd
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100 ranked 1,903,661st
The board stated this system will help institutions make better-informed admission decisions and limit attempts to manipulate UTME scores.
On the demand to extend the validity of UTME results beyond one year, JAMB stood its ground, insisting that such a move could compromise the comparability and fairness of scores across different years.
JAMB concluded by reaffirming its commitment to merit-based, transparent, and equitable admissions and hinted that the 2025 Policy Meeting would wrap up with the finalization of cut-off marks and regulatory guidelines for the next academic year.
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