ABUJA, NIGERIA – The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has approved admission for 85 underage candidates who successfully completed its special screening exercise for the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), reaffirming its commitment to credible and transparent admissions.
In a statement signed on Monday by Dr Fabian Benjamin, JAMB’s Public Communication Adviser, the Board said the approved candidates, all below 16 years of age as of September 2025, were found qualified after a rigorous multi-stage screening and interview process.
“After meticulous evaluation, 85 candidates adjudged qualified have been duly notified to proceed to their respective institutions to complete admission and print their JAMB admission letters,” the statement said.
JAMB explained that 41,027 candidates applied for the special consideration category, with 599 scoring above the 80% threshold in the UTME. Following further scrutiny of their school certificates and Post-UTME results, 182 finalists were shortlisted for verification and interviews.
Out of these, 85 met the final criteria and have now been cleared for admission.
The Board added that any of the remaining finalists who missed the interview could submit formal requests through the JAMB Support Ticketing System under the “2025 Underage Complaint” category.
It also gave candidates who scored 320 and above but failed to upload their O-Level results until Wednesday, 29 October 2025, to regularise their status.
JAMB reaffirmed that the exceptional admission policy aligns with global best practices, where such cases are treated as rare exceptions while maintaining the integrity of Nigeria’s tertiary education system.
Plateau News Online 