How JAMB Cut-Off Marks and Admission Scores Work
By Muntasir • Published Jan 11, 2026 • Updated Sep 20, 2026 • Africa Admissions & Exams
JAMB sets a national minimum score every Nigerian institution must respect, then each university, polytechnic, or college fixes its own higher cut-off for each course. For the 2025/2026 admission cycle, the policy meeting fixed the floor at 150 for universities, 100 for polytechnics and colleges of education, and 140 for colleges of nursing sciences.
🎓 150 is the university floor for 2025/2026, not a guaranteed spot.
Institutions can raise this minimum for competitive courses like medicine or law.
Your final aggregate mixes UTME score, O'level results, and post-UTME screening at most schools.
Below your target school's cut-off, you can change institution or course through JAMB's CAPS portal.
What a JAMB cut-off mark means
A cut-off mark is the lowest UTME score an institution accepts before it looks at your application. JAMB sets a national floor that every university, polytechnic, and college must respect. On top of that floor, each institution and each course inside it sets its own higher minimum based on demand and the number of spaces available.
Meeting the national cut-off does not guarantee a place. It only means you qualify to be considered. Competitive courses such as medicine, law, and pharmacy regularly demand scores well above the national floor, while less competitive courses admit close to it.
How the national cut-off is set
After UTME results are released, JAMB holds a policy meeting with vice-chancellors, rectors, provosts, and heads of regulatory bodies such as NUC and NBTE. The meeting agrees on the minimum score institutions can admit for that cycle. For the 2025/2026 admission cycle, the meeting held on 8 July 2025 fixed the university minimum at 150, the polytechnic and college of education minimum at 100, and the nursing college minimum at 140 (Daily Post ).
| Institution type | 2025/2026 minimum score |
|---|---|
| Universities | 150 |
| Polytechnics | 100 |
| Colleges of education | 100 |
| Colleges of nursing sciences | 140 |
No institution can admit a candidate who scores below its category's approved minimum. Institutions are free to raise their own threshold above it, and many do for popular courses (Premium Times ).
Why your target school's cut-off is higher than the national floor
A university's senate sets its own admission benchmark for each course after the national policy meeting closes. A department with 100 spaces and 5,000 applicants sets a higher cut-off than one with far fewer applicants for the same number of spaces. Check your target institution's admission list or JAMB brochure each cycle instead of relying on the previous year's figure, since demand shifts course by course and year by year.
How your admission score is calculated
Your UTME score is the starting point, not the full picture. Most Nigerian institutions combine it with your O'level results and a post-UTME screening score, which can be a written test, an interview, or both depending on the school, to produce an aggregate. Some universities weight UTME and post-UTME screening equally, others weight one more heavily than the other. Your O'level subjects also need to match the course requirements listed in the JAMB brochure, since a high UTME score with the wrong subject combination will not secure a spot.
Some institutions add a screening stage that checks your O'level grades against a points system before you sit any post-UTME test. A weak grade in a required subject like Mathematics or English can disqualify you at this stage even with a strong UTME score, so review your target course's subject requirements before you apply.
What to do if you score below your target school's cut-off
If your score clears the national floor but not your first-choice institution's threshold, you have options through JAMB's Central Admissions Processing System (CAPS). You can change your institution or course to one where your score fits, provided your subject combination and O'level results still meet the new choice's requirements. Some candidates use this to move from an oversubscribed university course to a polytechnic HND program or a less competitive department at the same school.
Checking your admission status
Log in to your JAMB profile with your registration number to see admission status updates as institutions upload their lists to CAPS. Respond to any admission offer promptly, since institutions reallocate unclaimed spaces to other candidates on the waiting list within a set window.
How cut-offs differ between federal, state, and private institutions
Federal universities generally attract the highest number of applicants per course, which pushes their internal cut-offs above the national floor for most popular programs. State universities often sit closer to the national minimum for less competitive courses, though flagship state universities behave more like federal ones for courses such as medicine and law. Private universities set their own admission benchmarks too, and some accept candidates closer to the national floor because they have more available spaces relative to demand, though tuition costs differ sharply from public institutions.
Why cut-off marks change from year to year
The national cut-off is not fixed permanently. JAMB and institution heads review it at each policy meeting based on that year's UTME performance nationally, the number of available spaces across institutions, and pressure to keep admission standards consistent with secondary school outcomes. A cycle where more candidates score above 200 can push some institutions to raise their own cut-off well above the national floor, even if JAMB keeps the floor itself unchanged. Treat the national floor as a starting reference each cycle and confirm your target institution's actual cut-off through its official admission portal rather than assuming it repeats from a previous year.