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JAMB to screen over 500 exceptional underage admission.
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Candidates met high UTME, post-UTME, and WAEC/NECO criteria.
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Screening to include tests, interviews, and result verification.
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has announced plans to establish a special screening committee to assess the eligibility of over 500 underage candidates who excelled in the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) and other qualifying tests.
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EKO HOT BLOG reports that JAMB Registrar, Professor Ishaq Oloyede, disclosed this after a virtual meeting with stakeholders on Wednesday. He revealed that out of 41,027 candidates below the age of 16 who sat for the UTME, more than 40,000 failed to meet the strict criteria for admission consideration.
To qualify, candidates needed a minimum UTME score of 320 (80%), 80% in the post-UTME, and 24 out of 30 points in a single sitting of WAEC or NECO. Only a little over 500 met these conditions.
According to Oloyede, the screening will take place between September 22 and 26, 2025, at three designated centres: Lagos (397 candidates), Owerri (136 candidates), and Abuja (66 candidates). The process will involve subject-specific tests, a brief oral interview, and verification of WAEC results to ensure authenticity.
He stressed that the exercise aims to select only the most exceptional and academically ready underage students, citing similar practices in other countries. The subcommittee overseeing the screening will be led by Prof. Taoheed Adedoja.
Participants in the meeting included heads of tertiary institutions, government officials, civil society representatives, members of the Nigerian Academy of Education, and the principal of the Federal Government Gifted Academy, Suleja.
The federal government maintains that the minimum age for admission into Nigerian tertiary institutions is 16, but JAMB says exceptional underage candidates may be considered through this special process.
