The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board has retained 150 as the minimum cut-off mark for admission into Nigerian universities for the 2026/2027 academic session.
The decision was reached on Monday at the board’s annual policy meeting on admissions held in Abuja, where key stakeholders, including vice-chancellors and heads of tertiary institutions, deliberated on admission guidelines.
JAMB said the benchmark was adopted after extensive consultations and a voting process involving participating institutions, adding that universities are expected to admit candidates who score at least 150 in the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination.
The board also approved 150 as the minimum admissible score for Colleges of Nursing, while polytechnics will admit candidates with a minimum score of 100.
It, however, clarified that the approved cut-off marks remain baseline requirements, noting that individual institutions are at liberty to set higher benchmarks depending on the competitiveness of their courses.
The annual policy meeting, convened by JAMB, serves as a platform for determining admission procedures, minimum scores, and other criteria for entry into tertiary institutions across the country.
The board explained that the decision was aimed at striking a balance between widening access to higher education and maintaining academic standards.
The development comes amid ongoing reforms in Nigeria’s admission system, including moves to grant concessions to candidates seeking admission into education and agriculture-related programmes under specific conditions.
Findings show that universities offering competitive courses such as Medicine, Law, Pharmacy and Engineering often fix their cut-off marks significantly above the minimum threshold announced by JAMB.
Prospective candidates for the 2026/2027 academic session are expected to commence admission processes in line with the newly approved guidelines.
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