The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, has announced that 85 underage candidates have successfully completed its extensive screening process and are now eligible for exceptional admission into tertiary institutions across Nigeria.
In a statement released on Monday by JAMB’s Head of Media, Dr Fabian Benjamin, the Board revealed that the 85 candidates, each below the age of 16 as of September 2025, were found qualified after undergoing a multi-layered evaluation exercise.
“After meticulous evaluation, 85 candidates who are adjudged to be qualified have been duly notified to proceed to their respective institutions to complete the admission process and print their individual JAMB admission letters.
“This policy of exceptional admission is consistent with global best practices, where such cases are treated as rare exceptions rather than the norm,” the statement read.
According to JAMB, the exceptional admission policy was established to recognize outstanding young scholars while ensuring compliance with broader educational regulations.
From a total of 2,031,133 applicants who sat for the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME, 41,027 candidates applied for consideration under the special underage category.
“Under this special category, 599 scored the 80 percent threshold in the UTME.
“These 599 were subjected to further scrutiny of school certificate and PUTME screening, which led to the emergence of 182 candidates (178+4).
“After due verification, interviews, and screening, 85 candidates were found to have met the criteria and have consequently been cleared for admission,” the Board added.
JAMB also provided an opportunity for candidates who missed the final interview stage to make formal appeals.
“Any of the 182 finalist-candidates who, with a valid reason, missed the final interview, is advised to submit a formal request through the JAMB Support Ticketing System- https://support.jamb.gov.ng under the newly created category titled ‘2025 Underage Complaint.’
“Such complaints will be reviewed individually, and decisions will be made strictly on their own merits. This window is exclusively for only the 182 finalists who might, for one reason or the other, missed the final interview.”
The examination body also announced a brief grace period for candidates who had high UTME scores but failed to complete their documentation.
The statement continued: “Candidates who score 320 and above in UTME but failed to upload O-Level results and were subsequently disqualified from proceeding are now given a chance to upload within two (2) days (i.e. not later than Wednesday, 29th October, 2025) and notify the Board of such through the ticketing platform.”
JAMB reiterated its dedication to upholding fairness, transparency, and academic integrity throughout Nigeria’s tertiary education system.
The announcement follows a previous statement by the Board on October 16, clarifying that only candidates who will be 16 years old by August 2025 would qualify for tertiary admission.
This rule aligns with a recent directive from the Federal Ministry of Education, which set 18 years as the minimum admission age for tertiary institutions nationwide.
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