The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has confirmed that 85 underage candidates have successfully completed its special screening process and have been cleared for exceptional admission into Nigerian tertiary institutions.
In a statement released on Monday by the Board’s Head of Media, Dr. Fabian Benjamin, JAMB explained that the candidates, all below 16 years of age as of September 2025, were approved after undergoing a thorough, multi-phase evaluation exercise.
“After meticulous evaluation, 85 candidates who are adjudged to be qualified have been duly notified to proceed to their respective institutions to complete the admission process and print their individual JAMB admission letters.
“This policy of exceptional admission is consistent with global best practices, where such cases are treated as rare exceptions rather than the norm,” the statement read.
The Board disclosed that out of a total of 2,031,133 applicants who sat for the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), 41,027 candidates applied to be considered under the special underage category.
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“Under this special category, 599 scored the 80% threshold in the UTME.
“These 599 were subjected to further scrutiny of school certificate and PUTME screening, which led to the emergence of 182 candidates (178+4).
“After due verification, interviews, and screening, 85 candidates were found to have met the criteria and have consequently been cleared for admission,” JAMB added.
The Board further advised any of the 182 shortlisted candidates who missed the final interview to submit a formal appeal through its online support platform.
“Any of the 182 finalist-candidates who, with a valid reason, missed the final interview, is advised to submit a formal request through the JAMB Support Ticketing System – https://support.jamb.gov.ng under the newly created category titled ‘2025 Underage Complaint.’
“Such complaints will be reviewed individually, and decisions will be made strictly on their own merits. This window is exclusively for only the 182 finalists who might, for one reason or the other, missed the final interview,” the statement continued.
JAMB also provided a two-day grace period for candidates who scored 320 and above in the UTME but were previously disqualified for failing to upload their O’Level results.
“Candidates who score 320 and above in UTME but failed to upload O-Level results and were subsequently disqualified from proceeding are now given a chance to upload within two (2) days (i.e., not later than Wednesday, 29th October, 2025) and notify the Board of such through the ticketing platform,” it stated.
The examination body reaffirmed its dedication to fairness, transparency, and academic integrity in its admission processes, emphasizing that exceptional cases like these are handled with strict adherence to merit and due process.
It would be recalled that JAMB, in a statement issued on October 16, reiterated that only candidates who would have turned 16 years old by August 2025 would be eligible for admission into tertiary institutions.
The directive, which followed the Ministry of Education’s new policy adopting 18 years as the minimum entry age, sparked public outrage and led to a lawsuit filed by former NBA Warri Branch Chairman, John Aikpokpo-Martins, who obtained a court order restraining JAMB from enforcing the policy.
Following the controversy, JAMB introduced a special screening process to consider underage students who demonstrated exceptional academic ability for conditional admission.