JAMB underage candidates screening will evaluate over 500 exceptional students below 16 for 2025/2026 tertiary admission through rigorous tests and interviews

JAMB underage candidates screening will identify and evaluate over 500 exceptional students below the age of 16 for admission into Nigerian tertiary institutions for the 2025/2026 academic session.

Also read: JAMB registrar Prof. Ishaq Oloyede rejects bias allegations amidst UTME controversy

The exercise will run from September 22 to 26, according to the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board.

The special technical committee conducting the screening has designated three venues: Lagos with 397 candidates, Owerri with 136, and Abuja with 66.

The initiative follows the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, where 41,027 underage candidates participated but only 599 scored above 300.

Registrar Prof. Ishaq Oloyede explained that the screening is designed to ensure that only truly exceptional and well-prepared candidates are considered.

“People have been doing it in other parts of the world. We are not reinventing the wheel,” he said.

The process will include subject-specific tests, oral interviews, and verification of WAEC or NECO results.

Candidates must meet strict requirements scoring at least 320 in UTME, achieving 80% in post-UTME, and securing 80% in a single WAEC or NECO sitting.

Participants at a recent virtual meeting included tertiary institutions, civil society groups, government agencies, and education experts.

The policy aligns with the Ministry of Education’s directive setting 16 as the minimum entry age, aiming to balance academic excellence with cognitive maturity and discourage age falsification.

Several universities, including the Air Force Institute of Technology, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, University of Jos, and Osun State University,

have declared they will not admit underage candidates under any circumstances.

Also read: JAMB announces mop-up UTME for over 5.6% absent candidates

The JAMB underage candidates screening underscores a commitment to both merit and the well-being of young scholars a move that may set a lasting precedent in Nigeria’s education system.