Admission Update: JAMB Sets 150 Cut-Off for Universities
By Tolulope Thomas
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), in collaboration with stakeholders in the tertiary education sector, has approved 150 as the minimum admission benchmark for universities for the 2026 admission cycle.
The decision was taken on Monday during the 2026 annual policy meeting on admissions into tertiary institutions, held in Abuja. The agreed scores, officially termed the National Minimum Tolerable UTME Scores, establish that no tertiary institution is permitted to admit candidates who score below the set threshold.
However, institutions retain the discretion to fix higher cut-off marks for admission into their programmes, depending on their internal standards and requirements.
For comparison, universities had also adopted 150 as the minimum benchmark in the previous year, while polytechnics and colleges of education maintained a 100 cut-off mark.
The benchmarks were arrived at following extensive deliberations and a voting process involving heads of tertiary institutions, including vice-chancellors.