Exam Body Clears 85 Underage Candidates For Admission

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has released the results of 85 underage candidates (those under 16 years old by September 2025), who completed the comprehensive screening process established by the Board for exceptional admission.

In a press statement yesterday, JAMB’s spokesperson, Dr Fabian Benjamin, said that after meticulous evaluation, 85 qualified candidates have been duly notified to proceed to their respective institutions to complete the admission process and print their individual JAMB admission letters.

According to him, this policy of exceptional admission is consistent with global best practices, where such cases are treated as rare exceptions rather than the norm.

“It is to be noted that in the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), of the 2,031,133 applicants, a total of 41,027 candidates sought consideration under this special category, of which 599 scored the 80% threshold in the UTME.

“These 599 were subjected to further scrutiny of their school certificates and Post-UTME screening, which led to the emergence of 182 candidates (178 + 4). After due verification, interviews, and screening, 85 candidates were found to have met the criteria and have consequently been cleared for admission.

“Any of the 182 finalist candidates who, for valid reasons, missed the final interview are advised to submit a formal request through the JAMB Support Ticketing System under the newly created category titled ‘2025 Underage Complaint’. Such complaints will be reviewed individually, and decisions will be made on merit. This window is open only to the 182 finalists who missed the final interview for one reason or another,” the statement said.

He added that candidates who scored 320 and above in the UTME but failed to upload their O-Level results and were subsequently disqualified from proceeding are now allowed to upload them within two days (that is, not later than Wednesday, 29th October 2025) and notify the Board through the ticketing platform.

The Board reiterated its commitment to ensuring that the admission process remains credible, transparent, and inclusive, while maintaining the integrity of academic standards across all tiers of tertiary education in Nigeria.