Vice-Chancellors from universities across Nigeria have agreed on a minimum Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) score of 150 as the general cut-off mark for admissions into universities for the 2025/2026 academic session.
The decision was reached during the annual policy meeting on admissions, organised by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) on Tuesday. With this resolution, no university in Nigeria is permitted to admit candidates who score below 150 in the 2025 UTME.
While 150 stands as the national minimum benchmark, several top-tier institutions have opted for higher requirements. The University of Ibadan, University of Lagos, and Pan-Atlantic University, for instance, have pegged their admission threshold at 200.
Some newer private universities proposed a lower benchmark of 120, though JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, advised a compromise at 160, suggesting that institutions maintain standards that reflect their academic capacity and competitiveness.
This development comes as the landscape of tertiary education continues to shift, with universities like Lagos State University (LASU) recently overtaking the University of Ilorin (UNILORIN) as the top choice for admission seekers, according to JAMB application data.
The policy meeting also highlighted growing concerns around admission-related challenges, with students and education stakeholders calling for transparency and timely processes in university admissions.
