Education
Does JAMB Decide Cut-off Mark?
By Fabian Benjamin
There is nothing like a uniform minimum national Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) score for any of the tiers of tertiary institutions and neither does the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board decide any such requirement for any institution.
The Board does not and has never determined any uniform national UTME scores otherwise known as cut-off mark by the general public for any tertiary institution because, in actual sense, there are no uniform national UTME scores.
The lucid process of admission which the former President of the Academic Staff Union of University, Prof. Nasir Fagge, expounded and which was published in Premium Times is the exact process being followed in the conduct of admission exercise to tertiary institutions in the country.
This process has even been improved upon with the elimination of human interefence through its full automation with the introduction of the Central Admissions Processing system(CAPS).For the purpose of emphasis, the Board conducts the UTME and hands over the results to institutions for the conduct of admissions. However, before the admission exercise commences a policy meeting is held with all the Heads of the Institutions in attendance and chaired by the Hon. Minister of Education. At this meeting, the admission guidelines, which include recommendations from individual institutions and their preferred minimum admission scores, are presented and deliberated upon at the meeting and not JAMB as erroneously portrayed by Prof. Fagge, because JAMB is only a member out of the close to about a thousand participants at the meeting.
Prior to the meeting, for instance, more than 50% of the universities had submitted in writing their minimum scores of 200 and above to the Board for presentation to the meeting for the purpose of deliberation. The same applied for the other tiers of tertiary institutions. The implication of this process is that no institution would be able to admit any candidate with any score below what they had submitted as their minimum score.
Perhaps, it is also apt to address the series of misconceptions as to what is generally described as “uniform minimum national UTME score” for admission into tertiary institutions in Nigeria entails. For some time now, many candidates and some members of the general public have been under the erroneous impression that there is a minimum national UTME score set by the Board, which they also refer to as “cut-off point”. The truth is that there is nothing like a national minimum UTME score for all Universities, Polytechnics or Colleges of Education in Nigeria as it is only individual institutions which set their minimum entry scores based on their peculiarities.
The Board has no role whatsoever in the decision of the institutions to determine how or with what criteria they want to admit. The role of the Board is to ensure that the goalpost is not shifted in the middle of the game. Furthermore, in most cases, the UTME score is not the sole determinant of placement of candidates into tertiary institutions. As such, the undue attention to the so-called national minimum UTME score (UTME cut-off point) is a major conception of many ill-informed candidates who assumed that they have finally attained the benchmark having achieved the so-called minimum national score or “cut-off point’ for admission.
It is, therefore, a double jeopardy for many candidates who subscribed to the popular myth of a uniform UTME score (cut-off) for all Universities, Polytechnics or Colleges of Education in Nigeria.
The myth also incorporates the erroneous impression that it is only the UTME score that constitutes the benchmark for admission. This is far from the truth. Hence, such candidates on attainment of particular grades in the UTME celebrate in advance of their imminent placement in their institutions of choice, which in reality may not come to pass at the end of the day.
The Board, therefore, for the umpteenth time, is stating unequivocally that there is
no uniform minimum UTME score (cut-off) for all Universities, Polytechnics or Colleges of Education in Nigeria because each institution determines and submits to JAMB its minimum UTME score after analysing the UTME scores of its applicants against its available quota. It should, therefore, be noted that decisions at the annual Policy Meeting on Admission does not reduce this minimum prescriptions emanating from the institutions except in the few situations where these institutions had submitted minimum UTME scores that fall below what the Policy Meeting considers as the acceptable minimum score. That is where the much-talked about 140 came from, which is but a baseline that no institution should cross.
It should, therefore, be noted that UTME score is just one of the two or three scores that are generally cumulated to obtain the eventual aggregate score and ranking of the candidates by most institutions. Other parameters are Post-UTME/Post-A/L qualifications screening test score; O/L grade score; and in some cases, physical test (such as applicable in the Nigerian Defence Academy/Police Academy).Therefore, it is the score from all these segments that are added together to have an eventual ranking table or “cut-off” score.
Prof. Fagge and his likes may wish to request the video clips of the proceedings of the just-concluded 2022 Policy Meeting on Admissions to see how institutions are practically in charge of their various submissions on who they want to admit.
Dr Fabian Benjamin is Head, Public Affairs and Protocol JAMB
The process for the 2026/2027 tertiary admissions cycle is set to begin in earnest as the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board has fixed May 11 for its annual policy meeting, where minimum cut-off marks for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination will be decided.
The development, disclosed in a statement by JAMB’s spokesperson, Fabian Benjamin, signals the start of critical decisions that will shape admission processes across universities, polytechnics and colleges of education nationwide.
According to the statement, the meeting will take place at the Body of Benchers Auditorium, located within the Institute and Research District in Jabi, Abuja, and will bring together key stakeholders in Nigeria’s education sector.
It is expected that the Minister of Education, Maruf Alausa, will outline major policy directions guiding the upcoming admission exercise.
“The Board’s annual policy meeting on admissions is a crucial annual gathering where stakeholders decide minimum tolerable UTME marks, admission guidelines, and policies for tertiary institutions.
“Furthermore, the meeting is expected to, in particular, formally set the tone for the 2026/2027 admission exercise while impressing on attendees the need to adhere strictly to stipulated guidelines.
“Attendees at the 2026 meeting would include critical stakeholders such as vice-chancellors, rectors, provosts, registrars and their admission officers.
Others are regulatory bodies ranging from the National Universities Commission (NUC), National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE), to the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), among others.”
The gathering is also expected to attract goodwill messages from major agencies within the education ecosystem, including the Nigerian Education Loan Fund and the National Youth Service Corps, alongside other stakeholders.
In addition to policy deliberations, the event will feature the sixth edition of the National Tertiary Admissions Performance-Merit Awards (NATAP-M), aimed at encouraging strict compliance with admission regulations and improving standards across Nigeria’s tertiary education system.
With stakeholders set to converge, the outcome of the meeting is expected to provide clarity on admission benchmarks and reinforce guidelines that will govern placements into higher institutions for the 2026/2027 academic session.
Jigawa, Kano and Katsina, have been identified as states with the highest number of out-of-school children crisis as UNICEF stressed that urgent investment in early childhood education remained critical to turning the tide.
According to UNICEF, Nigeria currently accounts for about 18.
3 million out-of-school children, the highest number globally.An education consultant with UNICEF Kano Field Office, Aisha Abdullahi, disclosed this at a two-day dialogue for journalists from Jigawa, Kano and Katsina states.
She spoke while presenting a paper on foundation learning and skills development, noting that the states alone contribute nearly 30 per cent of the figure, driven by poverty, insecurity, cultural barriers, and poor school readiness.
Abdullahi stressed that Early Childhood Care, Development and Education (ECCDE) offers a strategic and long-term solution, capable of preventing children from falling out of the education system before they even begin.
She emphasised that tackling the crisis requires a shift from reactive interventions to preventive strategies, with early childhood education forming the bedrock of lifelong learning.
“Early childhood education is not just a preparatory stage but a strategic intervention to reduce the number of out-of-school children,” Abdullahi said.
According to her, ECCDE targets children from birth to age five, equipping them with essential cognitive, emotional and social skills needed to thrive in formal schooling.
She noted that children exposed to early learning are significantly more likely to enroll in school, stay longer and complete their education, while those who miss such opportunities are twice as likely to drop out.
Abdullahi cited research indicating that nearly 90 per cent of brain development occurs before the age of five, making early learning a critical window for intervention.
Despite policy provisions incorporating one year of pre-primary education into Nigeria’s Universal Basic Education framework, she observed that access to ECCDE remains limited, particularly in rural communities.
She added that areas with functional ECCDE centres record up to 40 per cent higher enrolment into Primary One, alongside improved retention rates.
The UNICEF expert also highlighted the role of early childhood education in advancing girls’ education, noting that early exposure helps delay societal pressures such as early marriage, while strengthening parental engagement, especially among mothers.
However, stakeholders at the dialogue expressed concern over the low involvement of fathers in early learning, revealing that less than 15 per cent actively participate across the region.
They noted that increasing male involvement could cut dropout rates by up to 50 per cent, given fathers’ influence in household decisions, and recommended community advocacy, mosque engagement and structured father-child programmes to bridge the gap.
Despite these efforts, participants called for urgent policy action, including expanding ECCDE across all primary schools, allocating at least five per cent of education budgets to early learning, training more teachers and integrating traditional and religious education systems.
They maintained that strengthening early childhood education through adequate investment and quality delivery remains the most effective pathway to tackling Nigeria’s out-of-school children crisis.
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has extended the sale of application forms for the 2026 Direct Entry (DE) admission exercise to May 8.
The board announced the extension in a statement issued by its spokesperson, Fabian Benjamin, on Wednesday in Abuja.
Benjamin said the decision was aimed at ensuring that no eligible candidate was denied access to tertiary education.
He said the extension replaces the earlier deadline for the exercise.
He also disclosed that five additional registration centres had been approved to ease pressure in high-demand locations.
The approved centres are the Centre for Open and Distance Learning (CODL), Mini Campus, University of Ilorin, Kwara; Bells University of Technology, and Olabisi Onabanjo University Centre 1, Ago-Iwoye, Ogun.
Others are the Prof. Usman E-Learning Centre, Federal College of Education (Special), Oyo State; and Human Development Initiatives (Grace House), No. 2 Iwaya, Sabo, opposite Onike Girls Junior High School, Onike, Lagos.
Benjamin urged prospective candidates to take advantage of the extension, noting that JAMB offices nationwide, including Professional Registration Centres (PRCs) and Professional Testing Centres (PTCs), remained open for registration.
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