Nigeria’s Tertiary Institutions Fix New Admission Benchmarks, Retain 16 Years as entry age.

Nigeria’s Tertiary Institutions Fix New Admission Benchmarks, Retain 16 Years As Entry Age.

Heads of tertiary institutions in Nigeria have unanimously approved new minimum admissible scores of 150 for universities and colleges of nursing, and 100 for polytechnics, while confirming that the entry age into all tertiary institutions remains 16 years.

The decision was reached at the 2026 Policy Meeting on Admissions, where stakeholders across Nigeria’s higher education sector adopted fresh benchmarks to guide the next admission cycle. Under the new policy, candidates seeking admission into universities must score at least 150 in the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), the same minimum score now required for colleges of nursing.

Polytechnics are to admit candidates from a minimum score of 100. The meeting also reaffirmed that 16 years remains the official minimum age for admission into all tertiary institutions in the country.

The Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, explained that institutions must strictly comply with the age requirement, describing it as non‑negotiable and central to maintaining standards in the sector.

In a major shift designed to expand access and reduce bottlenecks, candidates seeking admission into Education programmes and non‑engineering Agriculture courses are now exempted from sitting for UTME.

Instead, such candidates will be assessed based on other specified qualification requirements as determined by the regulatory authorities and individual institutions.

Officials say the exemption aims to encourage enrolment into critical sectors such as teacher education and agriculture, while still preserving minimum academic standards.