Deborah Akinyosoye
A total of 41,027 underage candidates registered for the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), part of the 2.03 million candidates who have signed up for the examination, according to data from the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) registration dashboard.
The data, on Tuesday, shows that underage candidates, defined as those below the age of 16, represent a significant proportion of the total registrations. As of Monday, 62 cases of examination malpractice have also been recorded, as noted on the Board’s official website.
The Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, had recently reinstated the 16-year minimum age requirement for admission into Nigerian tertiary institutions, stressing that candidates under this age would not be eligible for admission. However, exceptions may be made for students who demonstrate exceptional academic performance.
JAMB has clarified that underage candidates, those below 16 years, could still be considered for admission if they score 80 percent or higher in the UTME. Given that the examination is scored out of 400 marks, this translates to a minimum score of 320.
This new policy follows the reversal of a previous mandatory age requirement of 18 years, which had been introduced by former Education Minister, Prof. Tahir Mamman. The return to the 16-year age benchmark has received broad support from education stakeholders.
At a recent meeting with key stakeholders, including Chief External Examiners, Chief Technical Advisors, and members of the Equal Opportunity Group, JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, reaffirmed that while the standard age requirement remains 16, candidates who are younger could still gain admission under strict, exceptional conditions. In addition to addressing age concerns, Dr. Alausa also announced that by November 2025, both the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and the National Examinations Council (NECO) would begin administering their objective tests via Computer-Based Testing (CBT). By the May/June 2026 examination season, both the objective and essay components of these exams are expected to fully transition to CBT. This move is seen as part of the broader effort to curb examination malpractice in the country.