The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has announced that starting September 22, it will beginning screening exercise for over 500 exceptional candidates below the age of 16 seeking admission into tertiary institutions for the 2025/2026 academic session.
This exercise will last till September 26, according to a statement releasd y JAMB through its Director, Public Affairs and Protocol, Fabian Benjamin on Thursday.
The exercise, to be overseen by a special technical committee established by the Board, follows resolutions reached at a virtual stakeholders’ meeting on Wednesday.
According to JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, the screening will hold at three venues: Lagos (397 candidates), Owerri (136 candidates), and Abuja (66 candidates).
Prof. Oloyede explained that out of 41,027 underage candidates who sat for the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), only a fraction met the set benchmarks.
He stressed that the screening aims to identify only the most exceptional and well-prepared candidates, noting that the practice is in line with global standards.
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The process will include subject-specific tests and an oral interview. The committee will also request WAEC result details to verify candidates’ eligibility before interviews.
Only those who score at least 320 in UTME (80%), achieve a minimum of 80% in post-UTME, and obtain 80% (24/30 points) in a single WAEC or NECO sitting will be considered.
This policy, aligned with the Federal Ministry of Education’s minimum admission age of 16, seeks to balance academic excellence with cognitive maturity, discourage age falsification, and protect candidates from undue parental pressure.
Four universities — Air Force Institute of Technology, Kaduna; Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi; University of Jos; and Osun State University — have already indicated they will not admit underage candidates under any circumstances.
Stakeholders at the meeting included heads of tertiary institutions, government agencies, civil society groups, members of the Nigerian Academy of Education, and the principal of Federal Government Gifted Academy, Suleja.
