JAMB Sets Minimum Score for 2026 University Admissions

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) and key stakeholders in Nigeria’s tertiary education sector have approved 150 as the minimum admission benchmark for universities for the 2025 admission exercise.

The decision was reached on Monday during the 2026 annual policy meeting on admissions into tertiary institutions held in Abuja.

The meeting, which brings together vice-chancellors, rectors, provosts, and other education officials, is organised yearly by JAMB to determine admission guidelines and policies for higher institutions across the country.

The approved scores, officially referred to as the National Minimum Tolerable UTME Scores, set the lowest Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) score candidates must obtain before they can be considered for admission.

This means no university in Nigeria is allowed to admit candidates who score below 150 in the UTME.

Despite the national benchmark, individual institutions still have the authority to set higher cut-off marks depending on the competitiveness of their programmes and institutional standards.

Highly sought-after courses such as Medicine, Law, Pharmacy, and Engineering often require significantly higher scores because of limited admission spaces and intense competition among applicants.

The benchmark system was introduced to create a uniform standard for admissions into tertiary institutions while also giving schools flexibility to maintain their academic requirements.

During the policy meeting, heads of institutions engaged in extensive deliberations and voting before arriving at the final decision.

Last year, universities also adopted 150 as the minimum benchmark, while polytechnics and colleges of education retained 100 as their minimum admission scores.

The retention of the same benchmark for universities suggests a continued effort by stakeholders to balance access to higher education with concerns about academic quality and student preparedness.

JAMB conducts the UTME annually for candidates seeking admission into Nigerian universities, polytechnics, colleges of education, and other tertiary institutions.

Over the years, debates over admission cut-off marks have remained a major issue in the education sector, with some stakeholders advocating higher standards to improve academic performance, while others argue for lower benchmarks to widen access to tertiary education, especially for students from disadvantaged backgrounds.