Dare Babalola
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), in collaboration with heads of tertiary institutions across the country, has approved 150 as the minimum Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) score for admission into Nigerian universities for the 2026 academic session.
The decision was reached on Monday during the annual policy meeting on admissions into tertiary institutions held in Abuja, where stakeholders reviewed guidelines for the upcoming admission process.
Under the newly approved benchmarks, universities are not allowed to admit candidates who score below 150 in the UTME.
However, institutions are free to adopt higher cut-off marks depending on their admission requirements and level of competition.
In addition to universities, the meeting also approved minimum scores for other categories of tertiary institutions.
According to JAMB, colleges of nursing sciences will also admit candidates from a minimum score of 150, while polytechnics will maintain a benchmark of 100.
“The Heads of Tertiary Institutions in Nigeria unanimously agreed that the Minimum Admissible Scores for admissions into Universities should be 150, Colleges of Nursing 150, and Polytechnics 100,” the board stated.
The benchmarks, officially referred to as the National Minimum Tolerable UTME Scores, were adopted after deliberations and voting by vice-chancellors, rectors, provosts, and other institutional leaders present at the meeting.
The latest decision means the university benchmark remains unchanged from the previous admission cycle, when 150 was also adopted as the minimum score for university entry.
Polytechnics and colleges of education had similarly retained 100 as their minimum score during the last exercise.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, announced at the same meeting that the Federal Government has maintained 16 years as the minimum age for admission into tertiary institutions nationwide.
The minister said the age policy remains in force as part of efforts to ensure academic maturity and standardisation in the nation’s higher education system.
The annual JAMB policy meeting serves as a major platform where admission guidelines, benchmarks, and regulations for universities, polytechnics, colleges of education, and related institutions are finalised ahead of each admission season.
