The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has announced that 85 underage candidates have successfully completed its special screening process and are now cleared for exceptional admission into tertiary institutions across Nigeria.
In a statement released on Monday, JAMB’s Head of Media, Dr. Fabian Benjamin, said the cleared candidates—each below 16 years old as of September 2025—were found qualified after a meticulous, multi-stage evaluation process.
“Following a rigorous assessment, 85 candidates deemed academically exceptional have been cleared to proceed with their admissions. They are to visit their respective institutions to finalize the process and print their JAMB admission letters,” the statement read.
Dr. Benjamin explained that the exceptional admission policy aligns with global best practices, where such cases are considered rare and handled with utmost care.
According to JAMB, out of 2,031,133 candidates who sat for the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), 41,027 applied under the special underage category. Of these, 599 candidates scored 80 percent and above and were subjected to further scrutiny involving school certificate verification and Post-UTME screening.
After a series of interviews and verifications, 85 candidates met the final criteria and have now been granted clearance for admission.
JAMB further advised any of the 182 finalists who missed the final interview to submit a formal request through the JAMB Support Ticketing System at https://support.jamb.gov.ng, under the “2025 Underage Complaint” category.
The Board added that candidates who scored 320 and above in the UTME but were disqualified for failing to upload their O’Level results now have until Wednesday, October 29, 2025, to do so and notify the Board via the same platform.
Reaffirming its commitment to fairness and transparency, JAMB stated that the exceptional admission policy is designed to uphold integrity while offering rare opportunities to outstanding young scholars.
Earlier in October, JAMB had emphasized that only candidates who turn 16 by August 2025 would qualify for admission, following the Federal Ministry of Education’s directive raising the minimum admission age to 18. The policy sparked public debate, leading to a court injunction preventing JAMB from enforcing the rule pending further legal proceedings.
This latest clearance marks the conclusion of JAMB’s special review process for underage candidates seeking admission under exceptional circumstances.
