The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has officially announced the cut-off marks for admission into Nigerian tertiary institutions for the 2025 academic session. The board made the disclosure on Tuesday via its official X (formerly Twitter) account, following the conclusion of its annual policy meeting with key stakeholders in the education sector.
According to the statement, the minimum score for admission into universities across the country has been pegged at 150, while polytechnics and colleges of education will accept candidates with a minimum score of 100. For colleges of nursing sciences, the board has approved 140 as the baseline. These scores serve as the general thresholds below which no candidate will be considered for admission.
“The minimum admissible scores for admissions for the next academic session have been fixed at 150 for universities, 100 for polytechnics, 100 for colleges of education, and 140 for colleges of nursing sciences,” JAMB stated. The board added that these figures were not decided unilaterally, but agreed upon by various heads of institutions during the high-level policy meeting held in Abuja.
The meeting, attended by vice-chancellors, provosts, rectors, and key officials from the Ministry of Education, focused on reviewing UTME performance trends and evaluating equitable access to higher education across all geopolitical zones. It was collectively agreed that the 2025 cut-off marks should reflect both academic realities and the need to expand educational opportunities, especially in underserved regions.
While many stakeholders have praised the inclusiveness of the newly adopted benchmarks—especially for polytechnics and colleges of education—some education advocates have expressed concern that the university cut-off of 150 may be too lenient. However, JAMB reminded the public that institutions are permitted to raise their individual cut-offs based on program competitiveness and institutional standards.
JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, also reiterated the board’s readiness to enforce compliance through its Central Admissions Processing System (CAPS), which ensures that no institution admits candidates below the agreed threshold. “All admissions for the 2025 session must go through CAPS and conform strictly with the new guidelines,” he emphasized.
As the 2025 admission cycle begins in earnest, parents and candidates are advised to monitor their chosen institutions for course-specific cut-offs, which may exceed the national minimum. With over 1.9 million candidates reportedly registered for the 2025 UTME, competition for admission slots remains high, and institutions are expected to maintain robust screening mechanisms to ensure merit and transparency.
