By Nafisat Makinde
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has announced the minimum cut-off marks for admission into Nigerian tertiary institutions for the 2025/2026 academic session. The decision was made on July 8, 2025, during the 2025 Policy Meeting on Admissions held at the Bola Ahmed Tinubu International Conference Centre in Abuja.
According to JAMB, the minimum admissible scores are:
- Universities: 140
- Colleges of Nursing Sciences: 140
- Polytechnics: 100
- Colleges of Education: 100
“The minimum admissible scores for admissions for the next academic session have been fixed,” JAMB announced via its official X account.
Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, JAMB Registrar, emphasized that institutions retain the discretion to raise their individual requirements in accordance with their admission policies and programme competitiveness.
In a related development, the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, announced that the minimum age for admission into any Nigerian tertiary institution is now officially pegged at 16 years. “The issue of age at entry has generated much debate, but our position is clear. The entry age for admission is now officially pegged at 16 years,” Alausa said, warning institutions against manipulating age records.
The new admission guidelines aim to standardize the admissions process across Nigeria’s tertiary institutions, fostering better educational outcomes and streamlining the selection process for deserving candidates.
