The Federal Government has approved 150 as the minimum admission cut-off mark for universities and colleges of nursing across Nigeria for the 2026 academic session.

The decision was announced by the Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, during the 2026 admission policy meeting organised by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) in Abuja.

Under the new admission guidelines, the government also fixed the minimum cut-off mark for polytechnics at 100, warning that institutions admitting candidates below the approved benchmark risk sanctions.

The meeting further resolved that tertiary institutions conducting post-UTME screening exercises are permitted to do so but must not charge candidates more than N2,000.

Education stakeholders at the meeting also adopted a 60:40 admission ratio for conventional universities and colleges of education, requiring that 60 per cent of admissions go to science-related courses, while 40 per cent be allocated to arts and humanities programmes.

For specialised universities and polytechnics, the approved admission ratio was pegged at 80:20 in favour of science and technology-based courses.

The latest policy maintains the same minimum university cut-off mark adopted during the 2025 admission exercise. Last year, colleges of nursing had a minimum benchmark of 140, while colleges of agriculture and colleges of education were placed at 100.

The annual admission policy meeting, convened after the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), brings together education stakeholders to determine admission guidelines and approve minimum entry requirements for tertiary institutions nationwide.