By Jumoke Olaitan /Funmilayo Adeyemi
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has adopted 150 as the
minimum admissible score for universities and colleges of nursing in the 2026
admission exercise.
The board also placed the cut-off mark for polytechnics and monotechnics at 100.
This decision was reached after several deliberations at the 2026 Policy Meeting
on Admissions into Tertiary Institutions organised by the board on Monday in
Abuja.
The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, who chaired the meeting, said the cut-
off marks represented the minimum requirement for admission and must be strictly
followed, stressing that candidates must meet the set standard.
In addition, stakeholders at the meeting fixed deadlines for the completion of the
2026 admission exercise across tertiary institutions in the country, unanimously
agreeing that public universities should conclude admissions on or before Oct. 31,
2026, while private universities are expected to complete admissions by Nov. 30,
2026.
Also, polytechnics, monotechnics and colleges of education were advised to
complete their admission processes by Dec. 31, 2026.
Also speaking, the Registrar of JAMB, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, directed all
institutions to carry out their admission exercises strictly within the approved
timelines.
Oloyede warned that once the deadline for each category expires, any institution
that failed to conclude its admission exercise would no longer have access to
candidates for that session.
He also approved that successful candidates must accept their admission offers
within four weeks, noting that failure to accept admission within the stipulated
period would lead to withdrawal of such offers, noting that affected candidates may
become ineligible for further admission consideration in that session.
The registrar added that the policy was aimed at ensuring fairness, transparency
and timely completion of admissions across all tertiary institutions in the country.
