A total of 41,027 underage candidates were among the 2.03 million who registered for the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination.
This was according to real-time data obtained from the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board registration dashboard on Tuesday.
According to data available on the Board’s official website as of Monday, 62 cases of examination malpractice have been recorded so far.
Recall that the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, recently reinstated the acceptable age for admission into tertiary institutions as 16 years. He emphasised that candidates below this age would not be eligible for admission, although exceptions would be made for academically gifted students.
JAMB has also clarified that underage candidates—those below 16—may be considered for admission if they demonstrate academic excellence by scoring 80 per cent or more in the UTME. Given that the examination is scored out of 400 marks, this translates to a minimum of 320.
This position by JAMB followed the reversal of the mandatory 18-year age benchmark previously introduced by former Education Minister, Prof. Tahir Mamman. The return to the 16-year benchmark has been widely supported by stakeholders across the education sector.
Speaking at a recent meeting with key stakeholders—including Chief External Examiners, Chief Technical Advisors, and members of the Equal Opportunity Group—JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, reiterated that while the 16-year age requirement remains the standard, candidates under that age may be granted admission only under strict, exceptional conditions.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Education has directed that by November 2025, both the West African Examinations Council and the National Examinations Council must begin administering their objective tests via Computer-Based Testing.
According to Alausa, by the May/June 2026 examination season, both the objective and essay components of WAEC and NECO exams are expected to be fully transitioned to CBT—a move aimed at further curbing examination malpractice.
Source: PUNCH