Under-16 Admissions: JAMB sets tough conditions, flags desperate parents

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has rolled out new rules for admitting candidates under the age of 16 into Nigerian universities.

According to the board, only “truly exceptional” students below the age limit will be considered, and even that comes with strict conditions: a UTME score of at least 320, a minimum of 80% in post-UTME, and 80% in one sitting of either WAEC or NECO.

JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, laid down the law during a virtual meeting with vice chancellors and admissions officers. He made it clear that the days of rushing emotionally and psychologically unprepared kids into university are over.

“We’re not saying no under-16 will be admitted,” Oloyede said, “but they must undergo rigorous screening to prove they’re gifted. This is about maturity and long-term wellbeing.”

The policy follows the Federal Government’s stance that the minimum age for university admission is 16. Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, echoed this at the 2025 JAMB policy meeting, stressing the need to balance academic ability with cognitive readiness.

No more combining WAEC and NECO for underage applicants either. Science students must have Mathematics among their top subjects, while Arts students must include English. All candidates will also be assessed through a dedicated post-UTME—even if the school has suspended the process for others.

To drive the point home, JAMB has removed all under-16 candidates from its CAPS (Central Admissions Processing System). Any university that admits them without JAMB’s clearance risks sanctions.

And here’s the clincher, of the over 38,000 underage candidates who applied for admission, only 599 scored 320 and above in the UTME. Those 599 now face another layer of screening, and even that doesn’t guarantee them a place.

Oloyede revealed that a 23-member National Committee on Underage Admission has been set up to screen these candidates in Abuja, Lagos, and Owerri. They’ll be assessed not just academically, but emotionally and psychologically too thanks to a new fourth layer of evaluation covering affective and psychomotor domains.

A subcommittee led by special education expert and former sports minister, Prof. Taoheed Adedoja, is expected to deliver a screening template in one week.

From now until mid-September, eligible candidates will be tracked through a “school search” that carries an 80% requirement. They must also sit for an independent post-UTME and meet the 80% benchmark. Institutions must submit results by September 16, after which the final shortlist will be determined.

Meanwhile, four universities, Air Force Institute of Technology (Kaduna), Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (Bauchi), University of Jos, and Osun State University, have informed JAMB that they won’t accept underage candidates under any condition.

JAMB is urging affected candidates to consider other institutions willing to screen them through JAMB’s rigorous process.