The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has published the names of universities that failed to submit ...-UTME screening scores of under-age candidates who sat for the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
JAMB expressed concern that, as of the agreed deadline of 15th September, 23 out of the 71 universities chosen by under-age candidates had not uploaded their Post-UTME screening results.
Since universities rely on a combination of UTME, Post-UTME, and SSCE results to make final admission decisions, JAMB explained that the release of NECO’s SSCE results a few days after the September 15 deadline made it necessary to extend the timeline for the under-age candidates’ assessment.
The Board also announced that the final assessment date for these candidates has been adjusted, though it did not disclose the new date.
“The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), in collaboration with the representatives of the chosen universities of the underage candidates who sat the 2025 UTME, has adjusted the final date for their scheduled assessment,” they said
The affected universities and the number of candidates linked to them:
In total, 135 candidates are affected by the delay.
JAMB urged the defaulting universities to submit their screening scores without further delay, noting that reminders had also been sent via email.
The Board further reminded institutions of the deadlines for uploading their recommended candidates on the Central Admissions Processing System (CAPS).
“Furthermore, the Board wishes to remind all public universities to submit their recommended candidates on CAPS on or before Tuesday, 30th September 2025, while all private universities are to submit their recommendations on or before Friday, 31st October 2025.
This is to ensure that the deadlines of 30th October 2025, for public universities, and 31st November 2025, for private universities, are achieved.”
JAMB set 16 years as the minimum age for admission into university, polytechnic, and college of education admissions, while allowing for documented, exceptional cases to be considered.
JAMB itself has long operated with a 16-year threshold as the baseline, but it has also developed an exception framework for exceptionally gifted under-16 candidates.
The Board has argued that the age rule must be balanced with academic readiness, and it set up special measures to manage how under-age applicants are handled so that outstanding performers are not automatically excluded because of age alone.
Because of that exception framework, JAMB and stakeholders built a multi-stage screening process specifically for under-age applicants. The process narrows applicants first by strict academic benchmarks and then by further screening.
In 2025, JAMB said it would consider only candidates who meet very high cut-offs in the UTME and Post-UTME and who show strong single-sitting SSCE results; those who meet the academic thresholds are then submitted to a national screening committee for interviews and other assessments to test readiness beyond raw scores.
In 2025, JAMB said it would consider only candidates who meet very high cut-offs in the UTME and Post-UTME and who show strong single-sitting SSCE results; those who meet the academic thresholds are then submitted to a national screening committee for interviews and other assessments to test readiness beyond raw scores.