JAMB to announce 2026 UTME threshold scores on Monday

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board is set to convene its 2026 Policy Meeting on Monday, a gathering where pivotal decisions regarding admissions to tertiary institutions across Nigeria will be deliberated, including the endorsement of minimum cut-off marks for the upcoming admission cycle.

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This crucial meeting, as announced by the Board's Public Communications Advisor, Fabian Benjamin, on Sunday, will be presided over by the Minister of Education and will unite stakeholders from the education sector to establish "guidelines for the 2026 admission exercise into all tertiary institutions in Nigeria."

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The session will also entail a review and adoption of admission benchmarks, encompassing the determination of "the minimum tolerable scores for admissions," a traditional yardstick for entry requirements into universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education.

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The 2026 Policy Meeting will play host to a delegation from Sierra Leone, comprising the country's Deputy Minister of Education, Mr Sarjoh Aziz Kamara, as well as two vice-chancellors, Prof. Edwin Momoh of Ernest Bai Koroma University of Science and Technology and Prof. Bashiru Koroma of Njala University.

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The Sierra Leonean officials are in Nigeria to gain insight into the nation's centralised admission system, as their country considers establishing a similar entity to streamline its own tertiary admissions process, having previously been briefed on JAMB's examination and admission procedures at its headquarters in Bwari.

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During the policy meeting, the delegation is expected to observe the integration of stakeholders into Nigeria's admission process, described by the Board as a coordinated value chain involving multiple actors.

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The visiting team has expressed gratitude to JAMB, noting that the rising demand for admissions in Sierra Leone has created significant challenges, while the Nigerian model "offers practical solutions to issues they had long sought to address."

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The statement underscored the Board's significance in the education system, implying that the admission structure it oversees remains vital to tertiary placement in Nigeria, and cautioning that critics of its existence "may better appreciate its strategic importance" in a scenario without it.