The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has announced that 85 underage candidates have successfully completed its special screening process for exceptional admission into tertiary institutions across Nigeria.
In a statement released on Monday by the Board’s Head of Media, Dr. Fabian Benjamin, JAMB explained that the candidates— all below 16 years as of September 2025 — were cleared after a thorough, multi-stage evaluation exercise.
“After meticulous evaluation, 85 candidates who were adjudged qualified have been duly notified to proceed to their respective institutions to complete the admission process and print their individual JAMB admission letters,” the statement said.
According to JAMB, this policy of exceptional admission aligns with global best practices, where such cases are treated as rare exceptions rather than the norm.
Out of over 2 million applicants who sat for the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), 41,027 candidates sought to be considered under the special underage category. Among them, 599 scored at least 80% in the UTME and were further screened based on their school certificates and post-UTME results.
Following additional verification and interviews, 85 candidates met all the necessary criteria and were cleared for admission.
The Board advised any of the shortlisted 182 finalists who missed the final interview to submit a formal complaint through its online support system.
“Any of the 182 finalist-candidates who, with a valid reason, missed the final interview, is advised to submit a formal request through the JAMB Support Ticketing System under the category titled ‘2025 Underage Complaint,’” the statement noted.
It added that candidates who scored 320 and above in the UTME but were disqualified for failing to upload their O’Level results have been given a two-day grace period—ending Wednesday, October 29, 2025—to do so and notify the Board.
JAMB reaffirmed its commitment to transparency, fairness, and academic integrity in the admission process, emphasizing that only those who meet all requirements would be admitted.
The development follows the controversy that trailed JAMB’s earlier directive that only candidates aged 16 and above by August 2025 would be eligible for admission— a policy later challenged in court and suspended pending further review.
