JAMB to Screen 599 Exceptional Underage Candidates for 2025/2026 Admission
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has announced that it will screen 599 exceptional candidates under the age of 16 who are seeking admission into tertiary institutions for the 2025/2026 academic session.
According to JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, the screening will take place between September 22 and 26, 2025, and will be conducted by a special technical committee set up by the board. The decision was part of resolutions reached during a virtual meeting of JAMB officials on Wednesday.
Oloyede disclosed that the exercise will be held across three designated centres: Lagos (397 candidates), Owerri (136 candidates), and Abuja (66 candidates).
The move comes after the board recorded 41,027 underage candidates in the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), out of which more than 40,000 did not meet the initial selection criteria.
“This process is to ensure that only exceptional and well-prepared underage candidates are admitted. People have been doing it in other parts of the world; we are not reinventing the wheel,” Oloyede said.
A subcommittee led by Prof. Taoheed Adedoja presented the assessment plan during the meeting, outlining that the screening will involve subject-specific tests followed by a brief oral interview to determine candidates’ academic readiness and maturity for tertiary education.
JAMB stressed that the initiative is designed to strike a balance between maintaining academic standards and recognising outstanding talent among young learners, adding that only those who pass both stages of the screening will be recommended for admission.
