JAMB grants admission to 85 underage but exceptional candidates

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has approved the admission of 85 candidates who were under 16 years old by September 2025.

The board, in a statement on Monday, said the admissions followed a rigorous screening process for “exceptional” candidates.

The candidates have been notified and instructed to proceed to their respective institutions to complete the admission process and print their JAMB admission letters.

Fabian Benjamin, spokesperson for JAMB, said the policy is consistent with global best practices, where such cases are treated as rare exceptions rather than the norm.

Out of the 2,031,133 applicants for the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), a total of 41,027 candidates sought consideration under this special category.