The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has retained 150 as the minimum cut-off mark for admission into Nigerian universities for the 2026 academic session.
The decision was announced following the Board’s policy meeting with relevant stakeholders, including university vice-chancellors, representatives of regulatory bodies, and other education sector players.
JAMB’s position reaffirms the benchmark that has guided university admissions in recent cycles, signaling continuity in the Board’s approach to managing the gateway into tertiary education across the country.
The retention of the 150 cut-off mark means that candidates who scored at or above that threshold in the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) remain eligible to seek admission into degree-granting institutions, subject to meeting each university’s own internal cut-off requirements.
Individual universities are, however, at liberty to set higher departmental cut-off marks depending on the competitiveness of their programmes and the volume of available admission slots.
This layered system means that while 150 qualifies a candidate for consideration, securing a place in a sought-after course at a top institution typically demands a significantly higher score.
The announcement comes at a time of heightened public scrutiny of Nigeria’s university admission process, particularly following widespread concerns over the performance of candidates in recent UTME sittings.
Education stakeholders have continued to debate whether the 150 benchmark adequately reflects the academic preparedness required for university-level study, with some advocacy groups calling for either a raise in the mark to improve standards or enhanced remedial support for candidates who fall just below the threshold.
JAMB, for its part, has maintained that the cut-off is a balanced and inclusive figure that gives a broad pool of qualified candidates a fair opportunity to access higher education in Nigeria.
