The Joint Admission Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), today held its traditional JAMB Policy Meeting at the Bola Ahmed Tinubu International Conference Centre in Abuja, where several key resolutions were reached regarding the 2026/2027 admission exercise.
First was the determination of the general cut off marks which showed the following:
Universities: 150
Colleges of Nursing Science: 140
Polytechnics and Colleges of Technology/Education: 100
Education analysts who spoke to Business Hilights.ng after the meeting expressed reservations, saying this year’s examination shows that candidates failed more than last year.
However, JAMB made it clear that individual institutions retain the right to set higher cut-off marks but are strictly prohibited from setting them below these national benchmarks.
On admission deadlines, the board established a strict schedule for completing the 2026 admission cycle:
Public Universities: Must conclude all admissions by October 31, 2026.
Polytechnics: Deadline is November 30, 2026.
Monotechnics and Colleges of Education: Must finish by December 31, 2026.
On age requirement, the minimum age for admission into any tertiary institution in Nigeria was reinforced at 16 years. The Central Admissions Processing System (CAPS) will now automatically enforce this to prevent institutions from bypassing the requirement.
On admission processing & quotas, JAMB insisted on mandatory use of CAPS, saying “All admissions must be processed through JAMB CAPS for transparency. Institutions were warned against “illegal” admissions outside this system.”
On Acceptance Window: Candidates offered admission have a maximum of four weeks to accept. Failure to do so may result in the offer being withdrawn.
Approved Quotas: Institutions are strictly forbidden from admitting students beyond their approved quotas for any programme.
Merit Policy: Public universities must admit at least 90% of candidates based on merit before considering other exemption modes.
On Results & Portal Updates
O’Level Uploads: Institutions must continue uploading O’Level results within approved timelines to prevent admission delays.
On Portal Activation: The portal for changing courses or institutions will be activated only after the mop-up examination is concluded.
