The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board has defended the 16-year minimum age requirement for admission into tertiary institutions, saying the policy is backed by existing education laws and supported by evidence linking maturity to academic success.
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The board’s Public Communication Adviser, Dr. Fabian Benjamin, stated this on Thursday during a virtual dialogue organised by the Education Writers’ Association of Nigeria.
The dialogue, themed “2026 Admission Policy Review and JAMB Scorecard: A Conversation with the Registrar,” examined key issues surrounding admissions and tertiary education in Nigeria.
Benjamin spoke against the backdrop of renewed calls in some quarters for a review of the age benchmark for admission into universities, polytechnics and colleges of education.
According to him, the 16-year requirement was not arbitrarily introduced by JAMB, but is rooted in the National Policy on Education, the Universal Basic Education framework and Nigeria’s 6-3-3-4 education system.
“We didn’t just wake up one night and say it must be 16 years. If you go back and look at the National Council on Education decisions, the Universal Basic Education Commission Act and the National Policy on Education, you will see clearly defined age expectations for primary, secondary and university education,” he said.
Benjamin explained that JAMB’s position is also based on years of monitoring admission processes and student performance across tertiary institutions in the country.
He said the board reviews every admission exercise to identify challenges and develop policies that strengthen the system.
“We operate a system whereby after every admission exercise, we go back to the drawing board and assess the entire process. We look at where the challenges are and come up with policies to address them.
“We have seen over and over again that age continues to play a major role. Beyond academics, education is a serious enterprise. Maturity plays a significant role in who you are, what you want to achieve and how you achieve it,” he added.
The JAMB spokesman, however, said the policy makes room for exceptionally gifted candidates who demonstrate outstanding academic ability.
According to him, such candidates may be considered for admission below the prescribed age if they meet the required performance threshold.
“Yes, there are people with peculiar cognitive abilities. That is why there is an exception for gifted candidates. Such candidates must attain a particular threshold of performance before they can be considered for admission below the prescribed age,” he said.
Benjamin said the exception was introduced to ensure that genuinely gifted children are not denied the opportunity to advance academically.
“We do not want to exclude gifted children. If a candidate demonstrates that he or she belongs to that category, the person will be given the opportunity.
“Even in other countries, when you see a professor at a very young age, it is because the individual demonstrated exceptional ability. But that does not mean every 12-year-old can simply gain admission into a university,” he stated.
He also recalled a case in which a foreign university queried the academic credentials of a Nigerian student because of the student’s age.
According to him, the institution wanted clarification on how the candidate could have obtained certain qualifications at such a young age.
“We had a situation where a university in London wrote to us regarding a candidate seeking admission for a master’s degree at a particular age. They were surprised and wanted us to explain the policy we were operating because they considered it impossible to have attained such qualifications at that age.
“We responded and explained the circumstances, and the university was shocked,” Benjamin said.
He maintained that the age policy would continue to guide admissions into tertiary institutions while still allowing room for exceptional cases.
Benjamin added that where a candidate is admitted below the prescribed age under the gifted category, JAMB would be able to justify such admission if any institution, locally or internationally, raises questions.
“If, in the future, any institution asks questions about a candidate admitted below the prescribed age, we can explain that the candidate demonstrated exceptional capacity and met the requirements set for gifted students,” he said.
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