News Highlights:
- UTME Cut-Off Marks for 2025 Raised
- Federal Government Enforces 16-Year Minimum Admission Age
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), in collaboration with key stakeholders in Nigeria’s tertiary education sector, has approved the National Minimum Tolerable Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) scores, also known as cut-off marks, for the 2025 admission cycle.
At the 2025 annual policy meeting on admissions into tertiary institutions, held on Tuesday in Abuja, the meeting adopted 150 as the minimum benchmark for admission into universities. For polytechnics and colleges of education, the cut-off was set at 100, while colleges of nursing were given a benchmark of 140.
This new arrangement mandates that no tertiary institution is permitted to admit candidates who score below these thresholds. However, institutions retain the autonomy to set higher cut-off points for their respective programmes.
Compared to the previous year, the cut-off for universities has been increased from 140 to 150, while the scores for polytechnics and colleges of education remain unchanged at 100.
The final decision came after a voting process in which vice-chancellors, rectors, and provosts, representing universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education respectively, cast their votes.
Despite efforts by JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, and the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, to push for a higher minimum benchmark of 160 for universities, the majority of institutional heads resisted the increase.
During the deliberations, the Vice-Chancellor of Michael Lawrence University, Abuja, Prof. Ernest Izevbigie, proposed a cut-off of 140, while his counterpart at Lighthouse University suggested 130.
The Vice-Chancellor of Olabisi Onabanjo University, Prof. Ayodeji Agboola, advocated for 160 but received minimal support. Meanwhile, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Port Harcourt, Prof. Owunari Georgewill, recommended 150.
Following the decision, Prof. Oloyede stated, “Every institution should maintain its own approved minimum,” emphasizing that those who had earlier proposed lower scores must now align with the newly approved benchmarks.
Federal Government Reiterates 16-Year Minimum Age for Tertiary Admission
In addition to the admission cut-off points, the Federal Government has reaffirmed that 16 years is now the official and non-negotiable minimum age for admission into tertiary institutions across the country.
Speaking at the policy meeting, Dr. Tunji Alausa, the Minister of Education, clarified the government’s stance: “The issue of age at entry into tertiary institutions has generated much debate, but our position is clear. The entry age for admission into tertiary institutions is now officially pegged at 16 years.”
He noted that this was a downward revision from the previously proposed age of 18, and insisted that all institutions must comply. “It was reduced from 18, which was to be effective from this year’s exercise, so the need for this compliance,” Alausa explained.
Alausa said the move was informed by the need to ensure a proper balance between academic readiness and cognitive maturity, and cautioned against non-compliance: “Sixteen years of age for admission is non-negotiable. Institutions are hereby directed to ensure strict compliance.”
While acknowledging the possibility of rare exceptions, he added: “We understand there may be a few exceptional cases, and provisions have already been made for legitimate exceptions, especially for gifted children or those with accelerated educational progress. However, this must be demonstrated and documented, and it must be justified.”
Alausa concluded with a stern warning, stressing that: “Any admission carried out outside the Central Admissions Processing System will be considered illegal,” and warned institutions against manipulating age records to bypass the policy.
