The federal government has disclosed that 38,892 underage candidates who sat the 2026 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) failed to meet the requirements for admission into Nigerian tertiary institutions, leaving only 108 candidates out of about 39,000 to scale the screening process.
The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, stated this in Abuja on Wednesday while receiving the two highest-scoring candidates and six other outstanding underage candidates in the 2026 UTME, presented by the Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Prof. Segun Aina.
He said the successful candidates emerged after a stringent selection process that required them to demonstrate outstanding academic performance as well as psychological, emotional and intellectual readiness for university education.
Alausa noted that the outcome followed a multi-stage screening exercise designed to ensure that opportunities for exceptionally gifted children did not come at the expense of their preparedness for the demands of higher education.
According to him, 2,244,149 candidates registered for the 2026 UTME, while 2,174,396 eventually sat the examination. Of these, approximately 39,000 were below the prescribed minimum admission age of 16.
The minister said candidates seeking exemption from the age requirement had to meet several demanding conditions, beginning with a minimum UTME score of 320 out of 400, representing 80 per cent.
They were also required to score at least 80 per cent in their post-UTME examinations, attain the stipulated 80 per cent threshold in the assessment of their O-level results and pass a screening exercise to establish their psychological, emotional and intellectual readiness for university education.
Alausa disclosed that only 391 underage candidates scored at least 320 in the UTME, while further assessments reduced the number eligible for possible admission to just 108.
He described the successful candidates as exceptionally gifted, noting that they represented approximately 0.005 per cent of those who sat the examination.
“You are the geniuses in our society,” the minister told the students.
He further explained that the minimum admission age of 16 was not intended to frustrate academically gifted children or deny them opportunities to advance, but to ensure that those admitted at a younger age possessed the maturity required to cope with university life.
He urged the successful candidates to regard their academic abilities as a responsibility to society rather than merely an opportunity to secure early admission and personal advancement.
“You are the ones that will change Nigeria and change the world with your innovations,” he said.
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