The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has announced that 85 underage candidates have successfully completed its rigorous screening process and qualified for exceptional admission into tertiary institutions across Nigeria.
In a statement released on Monday by its Head of Media, Dr. Fabian Benjamin, JAMB explained that the 85 candidates, all below 16 years of age as of September 2025, were cleared after a comprehensive, multi-stage evaluation.
“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 JAMB admission letters. This policy of exceptional admission is consistent with global best practices, where such cases are treated as rare exceptions rather than the norm,” the statement read.
The board revealed that out of the 2,031,133 applicants who sat for the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), 41,027 sought to be considered under the special category for underage admission.
Of these, 599 candidates scored above the 80% threshold in the UTME and were subjected to further scrutiny, including school certificate verification and Post-UTME screening. Following the second stage, 182 candidates were shortlisted for interviews and additional assessment.
“After due verification, interviews, and screening, 85 candidates were found to have met all criteria and have consequently been cleared for admission,” JAMB stated.
The examination body further advised any of the 182 shortlisted candidates who missed the final interview to submit a formal request through the JAMB Support Ticketing System at https://support.jamb.gov.ng, under the category “2025 Underage Complaint.”
“Such complaints will be reviewed individually, and decisions will be made strictly on their own merits. This window is exclusively for the 182 finalists who, for any valid reason, missed the final interview,” the board clarified.
Additionally, JAMB announced that candidates who scored 320 and above in the UTME but were previously disqualified for failing to upload their O’Level results would be given a two-day window — ending Wednesday, October 29, 2025 — to upload the required documents and notify the board via the support platform.
The board reaffirmed its commitment to transparency, inclusiveness, and academic integrity in Nigeria’s tertiary education admission process.
It will be recalled that on October 16, JAMB announced that only candidates who would be 16 years old by August 2025 would be eligible for admission — a directive following the Federal Ministry of Education’s policy adopting 18 years as the minimum admission age.
The policy sparked public outrage, leading former Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) chairman, Warri branch, John Aikpokpo-Martins, to challenge the directive in court. The court subsequently restrained JAMB from enforcing the age requirement, prompting the board to conduct a special screening for underage candidates eligible for exceptional admission consideration.
ADEOLA KUNLE
