The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has approved the participation of exceptionally brilliant candidates below the age of 16 in its Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
JAMB Registrar, Professor Is-haq Oloyede, disclosed this during an interview on Inside Sources, a Sunday news program on Channels TV. He emphasized that while the board is enforcing the 16-year minimum entry requirement into tertiary institutions, a special window has been created for underage students who demonstrate exceptional academic abilities.
“We are saying 16 years is the minimum, but if you know you are exceptional, register for exceptional candidacy – that is, you are less than 16 years old and exceptional,” Oloyede stated.
He expressed concerns over a growing trend where parents manipulate their children’s ages through affidavits to accelerate their educational progression.
“Normal children cannot grow at a rate higher than their biological age. What parents are now doing is increasing the age of their children, using affidavits and other means just to push them ahead,” he said.
To address this, JAMB has introduced a Mock Only Trial Testing option for underage candidates beginning in 2025. According to JAMB’s Director of Finance and Accounts, Mufutau Bello, candidates who will not be 16 years old by September 30, 2025, will not be eligible for the UTME but can participate in the trial mock examination for experience.
The board also announced different categories of e-PINs for registration, including:
Mock Only Trial Testing for underage candidates at N3,500
Direct Entry application at N5,700
UTME without mock-UTME at N7,200
UTME with mock-UTME at N8,700
With over 2,000 underage candidates already registered for the exceptional candidacy, JAMB’s initiative has sparked discussions on the balance between academic excellence and the well-being of young learners.
