The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has announced 150 as the official minimum cut-off mark for admission into Nigerian universities for the 2025/2026 academic session.
The decision was reached and made public during the 2025 JAMB Policy Meeting on Admissions, held at the Bola Ahmed Tinubu International Conference Centre, Abuja, on Tuesday. In addition to the university benchmark, the board also fixed 140 as the minimum cut-off for colleges of nursing sciences, while polytechnics and colleges of education will accept candidates with a minimum of 100.
JAMB stated on its official X (formerly Twitter) account: “The minimum admissible scores for admissions for the next academic session have been fixed at 150 for universities, 100 for polytechnics, 100 for colleges of education, and 140 for colleges of nursing sciences by the stakeholders (Heads of Tertiary Institutions).”
Meanwhile, the board also revealed the top-performing candidates in the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME). Leading the list is Okeke Chinedu Christian from Anambra State, who scored 375 out of a possible 400. He chose the University of Lagos as his first choice to study Mechanical Engineering.
Closely following him is Ayuba Simon-Peter John from Gombe State, with a score of 374. He selected Afe Babalola University (ABUAD) for the same course. In third position is Jimoh Abdulmalik Olayinka from Kwara State, who earned a score of 373 and also opted for Mechanical Engineering at the University of Lagos.
JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, who presided over the policy meeting, praised the academic performance of the top candidates and emphasized the importance of merit-based admissions, while urging institutions to adhere strictly to the new benchmarks.
