JAMB Draws The Line: No University Admission Below Age 16

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has restated its firm stance that the minimum age for gaining admission into any tertiary institution in Nigeria remains 16 years.....KINDLY READ THE FULL STORY HERE▶

This clarification came during the 2025 Policy Meeting on Admissions, held on Tuesday at the Bola Ahmed Tinubu International Conference Centre in Abuja. The event brought together key stakeholders from universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education to set policies for the new academic session.

In its address, JAMB revealed that the age rule is strictly enforced via the Central Admissions Processing System (CAPS), which even accommodates candidates who will clock 16 on or before August 31, 2025.

Despite this, the Board raised concerns over unauthorised “backdoor admissions” carried out by some institutions. According to a statement presented during the meeting, “The Board enforced the 16-year minimum age on CAPS and even made exceptions for candidates turning 16 by August 31, 2025. However, some institutions went around this by admitting underage candidates off the platform and charging them exorbitant tuition fees.”

JAMB emphasized that such admissions are invalid and warned that affected students would not be recognised under CAPS. The Board added that some of these cases have already led to legal action against the institutions involved.

In another major update, JAMB announced a new measure to curb the falsification and over-celebration of UTME scores: starting from 2025, candidates’ national rankings will be displayed on their result slips.

“To discourage the trend of glorifying raw scores, each candidate’s position will be clearly indicated on their result slip,” the Board stated. This initiative, JAMB explained, will help schools better assess students relative to their peers and provide clarity to parents and guardians.

As part of the policy presentation, JAMB shared statistical insights from the 2025 UTME. Out of 1,905,539 candidates, the rankings included:

• Score of 370 — Ranked 16th

• 320 — 5,806th

• 250 — 107,819th

• 200 — 533,805th

• 180 — 948,025th

• 140 — 1,855,607th

• 120 — 1,900,872nd

• 100 — 1,903,661st

The Board believes this move will discourage manipulation of results and enhance merit-based admissions.

Responding to suggestions that UTME scores be valid for more than one year, JAMB rejected the idea, citing concerns about maintaining score comparability and integrity across multiple years.

JAMB reaffirmed its commitment to fairness, transparency, and merit in the admissions process. The ongoing 2025 Policy Meeting is expected to conclude with the adoption of new cut-off marks and additional admission guidelines for the academic year.