FG Approves 150 Cut-Off Mark for Universities, 100 for Polytechnics
The Federal Government has approved 150 as the minimum admission cut-off mark for both public and private universities across Nigeria for the 2026 academic session.
The decision was announced by the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, during the 2026 admission policy meeting organised by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) in Abuja.
The government also adopted 150 as the minimum benchmark for admission into colleges of nursing nationwide.
According to the resolutions reached at the meeting, the minimum cut-off mark for polytechnics was pegged at 100, with a warning that institutions admitting candidates below the approved benchmark would face sanctions.
Stakeholders at the meeting further agreed that tertiary institutions willing to conduct post-UTME screening exercises are free to do so, provided applicants are not charged more than N2,000.
The committee also approved new admission ratios for tertiary institutions. Conventional universities and colleges of education are expected to maintain a 60:40 admission ratio in favour of science-related courses, while specialised universities and polytechnics are to adopt an 80:20 ratio.
The development is in line with the policy adopted during the 2025 admission meeting, where JAMB fixed 150 as the minimum cut-off mark for university admissions. At the time, colleges of nursing were assigned a benchmark of 140, while colleges of agriculture and education were pegged at 100.
JAMB traditionally convenes the annual admission policy meeting after the conduct of the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) to determine admission guidelines and benchmarks for tertiary institutions across the country.
During the meeting, heads of tertiary institutions propose admission benchmarks for their categories, which are then reviewed and approved by stakeholders.