A SURGE in underage candidates registering for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) has reignited discussions surrounding the country’s admission age policies. This is because the board has recorded over 11,553 candidates below the age of 16 in its 2025 registration. This figure has prompted renewed scrutiny of parental influence, peer pressure and institutional regulations.
The Registrar of JAMB, Professor Ishaq Oloyede revealed this during an inspection of computer-based test centres in Lagos where he detailed the rising trend and its potential implications.
“Now, we have registered 782,027 candidates, and 11,553 of them are underage. So, you can see that as we are registering, the system is reporting from all over the country. Out of the expected two million candidates, we’re not yet at the 14th day,” Oloyede said. “Monday will mark our 14th day. So, in two weeks, we would have completed about half of our registration process, and by that time, we expect to have over one million candidates registered. So far, everything has been smooth.”
The registrar added that on Friday alone, 443 underage candidates were recorded among 18,813 registrations that morning. The trend, he suggested, often stems from parental pressure.
“It has become a common thing now, where parents, whether mothers or fathers, are registering their underage children, sometimes due to pressure or other reasons,” Oloyede explained. “This year, we’ve introduced a system that allows us to identify and track underage candidates. This will help us understand their issues and even identify those who might be genuinely gifted but still underage.”
The development follows a contentious policy shift in 2024 when the then-Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman, directed JAMB and tertiary institutions to stop admitting candidates below the age of 18. Mamman argued that younger candidates lacked the maturity required for higher education.
“JAMB is hereby instructed this year to admit only eligible students—that is, those who have attained 18 years by our laws,” Mamman declared during the 2024 admission policy meeting in Abuja.
The directive sparked criticism from parents, educators, and other stakeholders, who argued that academic performance, not age, should determine university eligibility. Following intense public debate, Mamman revised the policy, reducing the minimum age to 16 after appeals from various quarters.
While the adjustment appeared to strike a balance between age and academic capability, JAMB has since reported a surge in underage registrations, a phenomenon it attributes to parental interference.
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In response to the growing trend, The Explainer had on Tuesday reported that JAMB introduced a new policy allowing candidates under the age of 16 to sit for the UTME, provided they achieve a minimum score of 320 out of 400—equivalent to 80 per cent. The move aims to accommodate exceptionally gifted students while dissuading parents from pushing unprepared children into the system.
“This is about complying with the law. Age plays a crucial role in maturity and academic development,” Oloyede said. “If a candidate under 16 scores 200 out of 400 in the UTME, can they truly be considered exceptional? However, if they achieve 80 per cent (320/400), that signals exceptional ability and warrants consideration.”
The Explainer gathered that, JAMB has implemented technical safeguards to address the issue, including a time delay during the registration process that requires candidates to read and acknowledge key guidelines before proceeding.
“We have now put a time limit. A time-space that, whether they like it or not, they must read because the system will not go until that time elapses,” Oloyede explained.
Despite the concerns over underage registrations, the 2025 UTME registration process has progressed rapidly. Oloyede reported that daily registration numbers have consistently exceeded expectations, with some days recording close to 100,000 new candidates—well above the anticipated 60,000.
“This is the first time that we have been registering 80,000-plus. Yesterday, we registered close to 100,000 across the country. And we have budgeted for 60,000 per day. That’s what we use in our planning,” he said.
The 2025 UTME registration period runs from 31 January to 5 March, with a mock examination scheduled for 23 February and the main exam set for 8 March.
