The Joint Admission and Matriculation Board, JAMB, the examination authority for all intending students into Universities and Colleges of education in Nigeria will today Monday set up examination minimum cut-off marks for the 2026/2027 academic session during its annual Policy Meeting which will take place today Monday, 11 May 2026.
The cut off marks are the minimum scores intending students into Universities and Colleges of education must score before any university will offer them admissions.
While the official announcement for this session is expected during the meeting, you can refer to the historical benchmarks and preliminary guidelines for 2026 as a reference
Expected 2026 Minimum ThresholdsBased on previous trends and early stakeholder updates, the following minimum scores are projected:
Federal Universities: 150+
State Universities: 140+
Private Universities: 120 – 150+
Polytechnics: 100+
Colleges of Education: 100
Today Monday, 11 May 2026 the examination body will sit at Body of Benchers Auditorium, Institute and Research District, Jabi, Abuja.
Today’s meeting will be haired by Minister of Education, Maruf Alausa.
One of the purpose of the meeting according to source is to ratify admission guidelines and set the minimum tolerable UTME scores for all tertiary institutions in Nigeria.
These “national minimum” marks only serve as a baseline. Individual institutions and competitive departments (like Medicine or Law) typically set their own higher cut-off marks, often ranging from 200 to 320.
It would be recalled that the Federal Government has formally set 16 years as the minimum age for admission into tertiary institutions for the current cycle.
No institution is allowed to commence admissions before this meeting concludes, as it provides the necessary legal authorization
