The UTME 2026 admission cut-off marks have been officially announced following a high-level education stakeholders policy meeting held in Abuja, organized by the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB).
Minister of Education Tunji Alausa presided over the announcement, confirming new benchmarks across various categories of tertiary institutions in Nigeria.
These decisions are expected to shape student intake criteria for the upcoming academic cycle and ensure standardized admission practices nationwide.
A central highlight of the 2026 policy meeting is the confirmation that the federal government set 150 as the minimum JAMB 2026 admission cut-off mark for colleges of nursing across the country, reflecting a deliberate push to raise professional healthcare education standards. This represents a significant upward revision from the 2025 policy cycle, where colleges of nursing had been assigned a minimum cut-off mark of 140.
For polytechnics, the committee pegged the cut-off mark at 100, with a stern warning that any institution admitting students below this agreed benchmark would face sanctions. This enforcement clause is designed to discourage institutions from compromising admission standards for financial or administrative gain.
Colleges of education also received updated guidelines, with their cut-off marks set in alignment with the broader policy framework. In terms of course distribution, both conventional universities and colleges of education must reflect a 60:40 ratio, ensuring that 60 percent of admissions are allocated to science courses and 40 percent to arts-based programs. Specialized universities and polytechnics, however, are held to a stricter 80:20 ratio, reinforcing the emphasis on technical and scientific education in those institutions.
Every year, following the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), JAMB convenes an admission policy meeting where tertiary institutions propose cut-off marks for their respective categories. These proposals are deliberated upon, refined, and formally approved by stakeholders, giving the process a collaborative and regulatory structure.
The 2025 policy meeting, held in July, had set 100 as the minimum for colleges of agriculture and colleges of education, benchmarks that continue to inform current policy discussions and decisions.
The JAMB 2026 admission cut-off marks ultimately reflect Nigeria’s broader educational reform agenda, prioritizing quality, accountability, and equitable access to tertiary education. Prospective students are advised to take note of these benchmarks when planning their institution preferences accordingly.
