JAMB has retained 150 as the minimum university admission benchmark for the 2026/2027 academic session
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board has announced revised admission benchmarks following a unanimous agreement by heads of tertiary institutions across Nigeria on Monday during the annual policy meeting held in Abuja.
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The Heads of Tertiary Institutions in Nigeria agreed that the minimum admissible scores for admissions should be 150 for universities, 150 for colleges of nursing, and 100 for polytechnics for the 2026/2027 academic session.
The decision was reached at the JAMB policy meeting, where vice-chancellors, rectors, provosts and other key education stakeholders reviewed admission standards across the country.
According to the agreement, the revised benchmarks are aimed at ensuring uniformity in the admission process while maintaining academic standards across different categories of tertiary institutions.
Under the new structure, candidates seeking admission into universities must score at least 150 in the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination to qualify for consideration.
Applicants to colleges of nursing are also required to meet the same 150 minimum threshold, while polytechnics will admit candidates with a minimum score of 100.
Despite the national benchmarks, institutions retain the autonomy to set higher cut-off marks for competitive courses such as Medicine, Law, Pharmacy and Engineering, depending on institutional standards and demand.
Education stakeholders at the meeting emphasised the need to strike a balance between expanding access to higher education and safeguarding academic quality across Nigeria’s tertiary institutions.
The agreement also comes amid ongoing reforms aimed at improving admission processes and widening access to tertiary education, particularly in specialised and technical fields.
Earlier discussions at the meeting highlighted government efforts to ease entry requirements for certain programmes, including education and agriculture-related courses, as part of broader education sector reforms.
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The policy meeting, convened annually by JAMB, serves as the official platform for determining admission guidelines, entry requirements and operational frameworks for universities, polytechnics and colleges of education across the country.
