The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), alongside key stakeholders in Nigeria’s tertiary education sector, has approved 150 as the minimum admission benchmark for universities for the 2025 admission exercise.

The decision was reached on Monday during the 2026 Annual Policy Meeting on Admissions into Tertiary Institutions held in Abuja.

The approved scores, officially referred to as the National Minimum Tolerable UTME Scores, set the baseline for admissions into tertiary institutions across the country. Under the policy, no university is permitted to admit candidates who score below the approved benchmark in the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).

Despite the benchmark, individual institutions retain the authority to adopt higher cut-off marks based on their admission requirements and competitiveness.

Last year, universities also adopted 150 as the minimum benchmark, while polytechnics and colleges of education maintained a minimum score of 100.

The benchmarks were approved following extensive deliberations and voting by heads of tertiary institutions, including vice-chancellors, rectors, and provosts.

Details later….