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500+ Under-16 UTME Candidates to Face JAMB Screening

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) will screen over 500 exceptional under-16 candidates seeking admission into Nigerian tertiary institutions.

The exercise will run from September 22 to 26 for the 2025/2026 academic session.

The policy follows the Ministry of Education’s rule setting 16 years as the minimum entry age for universities, polytechnics, and colleges.

JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, said screening will hold in Lagos, Abuja, and Owerri. “Lagos will host 397 candidates, Owerri 136, and Abuja 66,” he revealed.

Out of 41,027 underage students who took the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), over 40,000 did not make the cut.

Only the Best Will Proceed

Oloyede explained that the exercise is to ensure that only mentally and academically prepared under-16 candidates are admitted. “People have been doing it in other parts of the world. We are not reinventing the wheel,” he said.

A subcommittee led by Prof. Taoheed Adedoja said candidates will face subject-based tests and a short oral interview.

The committee will also seek confirmation from the West African Examination Council (WAEC) to verify results before interviews.

From 1.955 million UTME candidates nationwide, 599 scored above 300 but were underage. The screening panel will only consider those who scored at least 320 in UTME, 80% in post-UTME, and 80% in one WAEC or NECO sitting.

Four universities — Air Force Institute of Technology (Kaduna), Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (Bauchi), University of Jos, and Osun State University — have declared they will not admit underage applicants.

JAMB says the policy will help balance brilliance with maturity, prevent age falsification, and shield young students from unnecessary parental pressure.

Do you agree with JAMB’s approach, or should under-16 prodigies be allowed straight into university life?
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