JAMB schedules 22 September for screening of under-16 candidates
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) will hold a screening exercise for more than 500 exceptional applicants under the age of 16 seeking admission to tertiary institutions for the 2025/2026 academic session between 22 and 26 September.
The exercise will be conducted by a special technical committee set up by the examination body, following resolutions adopted during a virtual meeting of members on Wednesday.
During the meeting, the Registrar of JAMB, Prof Ishaq Oloyede, stated that three venues had been selected for the screening: Lagos, Abuja and Owerri.
He added that Lagos would host 397 candidates, Owerri 136, and Abuja 66.
Oloyede, who noted that out of 41,027 underage candidates who sat the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), more than 40,000 did not pass the initial stage, explained that the screening is intended to ensure only exceptional and well-prepared underage candidates are admitted.
“People have been doing it in other parts of the world. We are not reinventing the wheel,” he said.
At the meeting, a subcommittee led by Prof Taoheed Adedoja presented its report on the planned assessment, indicating that candidates would sit subject-specific tests followed by a brief oral interview.
The committee also resolved to request result details from the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) to verify the eligibility of some shortlisted candidates before they appear for interviews.
Participants in the virtual session included heads of tertiary institutions, government agencies, civil society representatives, members of the Nigerian Academy of Education, and the Principal of Federal Government Gifted Academy, Suleja.
It will be recalled that, of the 1.955 million candidates who took this year’s UTME nationwide, 599 scored above 300 but fell below the minimum admission age of 16, prompting the creation of the screening committee.
The policy aligns with the Ministry of Education’s directive setting 16 as the minimum entry age for tertiary institutions.
The initiative is designed to ensure that those admitted are mentally and psychologically prepared for the demands of higher education.
Four universities — the Air Force Institute of Technology, Kaduna; Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi; the University of Jos; and Osun State University — have already informed JAMB that they will not admit underage candidates under any circumstances.
JAMB states that the policy aims to balance academic excellence with cognitive maturity, prevent age falsification, and protect young candidates from undue parental pressure.
The board is targeting only candidates who score at least 320 in UTME (80 per cent), achieve a minimum of 80 per cent in post-UTME, and obtain at least 80 per cent (24/30 points) in a single WAEC or NECO sitting.
