By Ngozi Nwankwo
Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), alongside heads of tertiary institutions and other key stakeholders, has fixed the minimum admissible scores for the 2024/2025 academic session into Nigeria’s higher institutions at 150.
The minimum cut-off marks were being considered at the 2025 JAMB policy meeting held on Tuesday in Abuja.
During the meeting, the stakeholders agreed that the minimum cut-off mark for admission into Nigerian universities will be 150, while polytechnics and colleges of education will admit candidates from a baseline of 100.
For colleges of nursing sciences, the minimum score was set at 140.
The meeting, chaired by the Minister of Education, Maruf Alausa, was attended by Vice Chancellors, Rectors, Provosts, and heads of regulatory agencies.
The policy marks serve as general benchmarks, although institutions still reserve the right to set higher standards based on their programmes’ competitiveness.
JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, emphasised that the approved scores are the minimum thresholds and no institution is allowed to go below them.
He noted that the policy decision was aimed at ensuring fairness, access, and quality across the board.
“This policy reflects the reality of our education system and the need to align admission processes with merit, equity, and capacity,” Oloyede stated.
The policy meeting also reaffirmed the centrality of institutional autonomy in admissions, but within a framework that promotes national standards.
Institutions are expected to conclude their admission processes in line with the approved schedule and report to JAMB for central processing.
The Board declared; “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.”