Abuja, Nigeria — The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has cleared 85 underage candidates who took part in a special screening exercise following their exceptional performance in the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
The clearance was announced in a statement issued by JAMB’s Public Communication Advisor, Dr. Fabian Benjamin, on Monday.
According to the statement, the affected candidates—who had initially raised concerns due to being below the official university admission age—have now been cleared after a thorough review of their cases.
In Nigeria, the minimum age for university admission is 18 years, though the National Policy on Education permits entry from 16 years under certain conditions.
Meanwhile, JAMB also directed candidates who scored 320 and above in the UTME but were disqualified for failing to upload their O-Level results to do so no later than October 29, 2025. The board advised them to upload their results and notify JAMB through its online ticketing platform to complete their admission process.
Reiterating its commitment to transparency and fairness, the board emphasized that all admission procedures would continue to uphold the integrity of Nigeria’s tertiary education system.
“JAMB remains committed to ensuring a credible, transparent, and inclusive admission process while maintaining the integrity of academic standards across all tiers of tertiary education in the country,” the statement added.