The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has fixed the minimum admission cut-off mark for Nigerian universities at 150 for the 2025/2026 academic session.
The decision was announced on Tuesday during the 2025 Policy Meeting on Admissions held in Abuja.
According to the board, the approved cut-off marks for other tertiary institutions are 140 for nursing colleges, 100 for polytechnics and colleges of education, and 100 for colleges of agriculture.
The announcement was made via JAMB’s official X handle, confirming the consensus reached by heads of tertiary institutions.
In a related development, Education Minister Tunji Alausa declared 16 years as the official minimum age for admission into Nigerian tertiary institutions.
Speaking at the same policy meeting, Alausa emphasized strict compliance, stating, “The entry age for admission is now officially pegged at 16 years, and this is non-negotiable.”
The minister explained that the policy aligns with cognitive and academic readiness standards, though provisions exist for exceptional cases involving gifted students.
He also warned against age falsification, vowing sanctions for violators.
This decision reverses the previous 18-year minimum age introduced by former Education Minister Tahir Mamman in 2024, which was later nullified by a court ruling. The new policy seeks to standardize admission requirements and curb long-standing discrepancies in Nigeria’s tertiary education system.
Dele Fashomi, seasoned journalist and communication teacher, is a holder of Master of Arts degree in Communication and Language Arts from the University of Ibadan in 1992/93.
Earlier, he had bagged a Bachelor degree from the same university in 1984, after which he proceeded to the Nigerian Institute of Journalism, Lagos, in 1990, for a postgraduate diploma in Journalism.
He had done many courses in communication, including the EU-BBC Editing Course in 2002.
Mr. Fashomi combines effectively the practice, research and teaching of communication. And to date, he has published two academic works in communication: Issues in Communication Technology and Policy (2010) and Economic and Social Issues in Advertising and PR (2013).
He had his first break in the Nigerian media in Concord Newspapers in 1990 and today, he has over two and half decades experience earned in several newspapers.
He has been part of many start-ups, such as The Republic (1987), The Comet (1999), The Anchor 2001 – 2002; Sun Newspapers (2003); Westerner newsmagazine (2005 – 2010) as Editor; National Life (2011) as Sunday Editor, and Newswatch Newspapers (2012- 2016) as Daily Editor.
Dele Fashomi is now the Publisher/Editor-in-Chief of Newstide247.com newspaper online, which he started in July 2015. He is also into biography writing, with many books in his trail, some of which he wrote alone and one he co- authored with his mentor, Mr Dare Babarinsa, entitled: Olabiyi Durojaiye – DARE TO BE DiFFERENT. He also guided and collaborated with Pa Olatunji Odusanya in writing his autobiography – AGAINST ALL ODDS. There are many other books in the works under his pen.
