The Joint Admissions and Matriculation (JAMB) Board has announced plans to screen over 500 exceptional candidates below the age of 16 seeking admission into tertiary institutions for the 2025/2026 academic session. The exercise will run from 22 to 26 September.
According to resolutions from a virtual meeting on Wednesday, the screening will be conducted by a special technical committee set up by JAMB.
The JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, said three venues had been designated: Lagos (397 candidates), Owerri (136), and Abuja (66).
Oloyede noted that of the 41,027 underage candidates who sat for the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), more than 40,000 did not meet the initial cut, adding that the screening aims to ensure that only truly exceptional and well-prepared candidates are admitted.
‘People have been doing it in other parts of the world. We are not reinventing the wheel’, he said.
A subcommittee led by Prof. Taoheed Adedoja reported that the process will include subject-specific tests and a brief oral interview. The committee will also request results from the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) to verify the eligibility of some shortlisted candidates before the interviews.
The virtual meeting drew participants from tertiary institutions, government agencies, civil society, the Nigerian Academy of Education, and the Federal Government Gifted Academy, Suleja.
Out of the 1.955 million candidates who sat for this year’s UTME, 599 scored above 300 but were below the minimum admission age of 16, prompting the screening initiative. The policy aligns with the Ministry of Education’s directive setting 16 as the minimum entry age for tertiary institutions.
The initiative aims to balance academic excellence with cognitive maturity, discourage age falsification, and protect young candidates from undue parental pressure. Four universities — the Air Force Institute of Technology, Kaduna; Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi; University of Jos; and Osun State University — have already declared they will not admit underage candidates under any circumstances.
Only candidates who scored at least 320 in the UTME (80%), achieved a minimum of 80% in post-UTME, and obtained at least 80% (24/30 points) in a single WAEC or NECO sitting will be considered.
