The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has retained 150 as the minimum admission cut-off mark for universities for the 2026/2027 academic session.
The decision was announced on Monday during JAMB’s annual Policy Meeting on Admissions held in Abuja, where key stakeholders in the education sector gathered to deliberate on admission guidelines for tertiary institutions across the country.
According to the board, the benchmark was adopted following a vote by vice-chancellors present at the meeting.
The cut-off mark means candidates seeking admission into Nigerian universities through the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) must score at least 150 to qualify for consideration by institutions.
JAMB’s policy meeting is convened annually to determine admission procedures, minimum entry requirements and other guidelines for universities, polytechnics and colleges of education.
Although 150 remains the national minimum benchmark approved by stakeholders, universities are expected to retain the discretion to set higher cut-off marks for competitive courses such as Medicine, Law, Pharmacy and Engineering.
The retention of the benchmark comes amid ongoing discussions within the education sector over admission standards, access to tertiary education and the quality of candidates seeking university placement.
Education stakeholders at the meeting stressed the need to balance wider access to higher education with the maintenance of academic standards in Nigerian universities.
The decision also follows recent reforms announced by the Federal Government and JAMB aimed at expanding admission opportunities for candidates, particularly those applying for education and agriculture-related programmes.
Earlier at the meeting, the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, disclosed that candidates seeking admission into National Certificate in Education (NCE) programmes and some non-engineering agriculture courses would no longer be required to sit for the UTME, provided they meet specified academic qualifications
