The Heads of tertiary institutions in Nigeria and the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) have fixed minimum admissible scores for 2026 admissions into universities and colleges of nursing sciences across the country.
The stakeholders fixed a minimum of 150 admissible points for universities and colleges of Nursing sciences and 100 as the cut-off mark for polytechnics nationwide.
The decision was taken at the 2026 Policy Meeting on Admissions into Tertiary Institutions and the 6th edition of the National Tertiary Admissions Performance-Merit (NATAP-M) Awards in Abuja on Monday.
The meeting was presided over by the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa.
READ ALSO:Â JAMB Releases 2026 Mock UTME Results.Â
The decision on the cut-off marks followed open deliberations, during which vice-chancellors and other stakeholders arrived at the minimum scores.
However, institutions are allowed to fix their individual cut-off marks but not below the 150 points for Universities and Nursing sciences and the 100 points for the Polytechnics.
Meanwhile, JAMB Registrar Prof. Ishaq Oloyede said the deadline for the 2026/2027 admission exercise for public universities is 31st December, 2026, while private universities have until 30th November, 2026.
Oloyede said for polytechnics, monotechnics, and colleges of education, the deadline is 31st December, 2026, warning that all institutions must adhere to the schedules. 
“Institutions that fail to conclude admissions within the stipulated period will no longer have access to the list of candidates on the CAPS platform,” he declared.
READ ALSO:Â JAMB Delists 23 CBT Centres
Prof. Oloyede said institutions that wish to conduct post-UTME screening are free to do so, but the charge must not exceed ₦2,000.
He added that no institution is allowed to demand result updates, as JAMB will provide the data to prevent impersonation and ensure that only verified candidates sit for examinations.
He explained that, though institutions are permitted to set higher cut-off marks based on their admission requirements, they are not allowed to admit candidates below the approved national benchmarks
In the new policy, candidates seeking admission into education programmes and agriculture-related non-engineering courses in colleges of education will no longer be required to sit for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
 have fixed){kind=link}