The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has retained 150 as the minimum cut-off mark for admission into Nigerian universities for the 2026/2027 academic session.
The decision was taken on Monday, May 11, 2026, during the Board’s annual Policy Meeting on Admissions held in Abuja, where key stakeholders in the education sector, including heads of tertiary institutions, gathered to agree on entry requirements and admission guidelines for the new academic cycle.
Under the approved framework, candidates seeking admission into universities through the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) must score at least 150 to be eligible for consideration by institutions.
READ ALSO:Â JAMB Exempts Education, Agriculture Non-Engineering Candidates From UTME
However, universities retain the discretion to set higher cut-off marks for competitive programmes such as Medicine, Law, Pharmacy and Engineering, based on demand, capacity and internal admission standards.
The Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, who presided over the policy meeting, said the annual exercise remains central to harmonising admission standards across tertiary institutions while ensuring a balance between expanded access and the maintenance of academic quality.
He also announced a policy adjustment allowing candidates seeking admission into National Certificate in Education (NCE) programmes, as well as some non-engineering agriculture-related courses, to be admitted without sitting for the UTME, provided they meet prescribed academic requirements.
JAMB’s policy meeting is held every year to set minimum admission benchmarks and coordinate entry procedures for universities, polytechnics and colleges of education across Nigeria, in line with ongoing reforms in the education sector.