The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, and heads of tertiary institutions in Nigeria have approved 150 as the minimum cut-off point for admission into universities and colleges of nursing sciences for the 2026/2027 admission, while polytechnics will admit candidates from 100 and above.
Stakeholders reached the decision during the 2026 Policy Meeting on Admissions into Tertiary Institutions and the 6th edition of the National Tertiary Admissions Performance-Merit, NATAP-M, Awards on Monday, in Abuja.
Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, presided over the meeting, which brought together vice-chancellors, rectors, provosts and other stakeholders in the education sector to decide admission benchmarks and procedures for the 2026/2027 exercise.
Alausa announced the scrapping of the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME, as entry requirements for candidates seeking admission into the Nigerian Certificate in Education, NCE, programme, who possess a minimum of four credit passes in O’ level.
Alausa, however, clarified that all candidates seeking admission into NCE programmes must still register with the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, while their credentials would be screened, verified and processed through the Central Admissions Processing System, CAPS, before admission letters are issued.
The minister also disclosed that the Federal Government had abolished the dual-mode system in Colleges of Education, stressing that all admissions into the institutions would now be strictly for the Nigerian Certificate in Education, NCE, programme.
According to him, candidates who complete the NCE programme can subsequently proceed for an additional two-year degree programme, bringing the total duration to five years.
He said candidates who would enjoy this waver are those seeking admission into Education programmes and agriculture-related non-engineering courses in Colleges of Education.
The policy meeting also approved deadlines for the conclusion of the 2026 admission exercise across tertiary institutions.
Admissions into public universities are expected to end on October 31, 2026, while private universities have until November 30, 2026, to complete their admissions.
Polytechnics, monotechnics and Colleges of Education are to conclude admissions on or before December 31, 2026.
JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, warned institutions against violating the approved admission timelines, stressing that institutions that fail to conclude admissions within the stipulated period would lose access to candidates on the CAPS platform.
He also stated that institutions wishing to conduct post-UTME screening exercises are free to do so, but the screening fee must not exceed N2,000.
Oloyede added that institutions are prohibited from demanding result updates from candidates, explaining that JAMB would directly provide verified candidate data to schools in order to curb impersonation and maintain the integrity of the admission process.
He, however, clarified that while institutions may adopt higher cut-off marks based on their internal admission requirements, none is permitted to admit candidates below the nationally approved minimum benchmarks.
Meanwhile, JAMB unveiled the top-performing candidates in the 2026 UTME, with Owoeye Daniella Jesudunsin emerging as the highest scorer nationwide with 372 out of 400.
Jesudunsin, who sat for the examination in Ogun State, applied to study Medicine and Surgery at University of Lagos as her first-choice institution.
Other top scorers announced at the meeting include Enwere Kingsley Ikenna, who scored 370 and applied to Nile University of Nigeria to study Computer Science, as well as Bamisile Ayomide Emmanuel, who scored 369 and applied to Federal University of Technology Akure to study Software Engineering.
