The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has approved 150 as the minimum cut-off mark for university admission for the 2025/2026 academic session.
The decision was made on Monday during the 2026 annual policy meeting on admissions into tertiary institutions held in Abuja, where key stakeholders in the education sector gathered to set new admission guidelines.
The benchmark, officially referred to as the National Minimum Tolerable UTME Score, means that no university in Nigeria will be allowed to admit candidates who score below 150 in the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination.
However, universities still retain the discretion to set higher cut-off marks depending on their internal admission requirements and course standards.
For other institutions, polytechnics and colleges of education are expected to maintain their separate minimum benchmarks, which have historically been lower than that of universities.
The decision followed extensive deliberations and a voting process involving vice-chancellors and heads of tertiary institutions across the country.
