The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has confirmed plans to screen over 500 exceptional candidates below 16 years of age for admission into tertiary institutions for the 2025/2026 academic session. The screening is scheduled to take place from September 22 to 26, 2025, as announced by JAMB Registrar Prof. Ishaq Oloyede during a virtual meeting with stakeholders on August 6, 2025. This follows the identification of 599 candidates who scored 320 and above in the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) from an initial pool of over 38,000 underage applicants. The screening, to be conducted in Abuja, Lagos, and Owerri, aims to assess academic readiness and psychological maturity, requiring candidates to achieve at least 80% in UTME, post-UTME, and a single WAEC or NECO sitting. The initiative aligns with the government’s minimum age policy of 16, with exceptions for proven brilliance, though some institutions have opted out of admitting underage candidates.
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