The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, has approved 140 as the cut-off mark for 2024 admission into the nation’s universities and 100 for polytechnics and colleges of education, respectively.

The National Minimum Tolerable UTME Score (NTMUS), popularly known as the cut-off mark, for 2024 admission into tertiary institutions was arrived at on Thursday during the 2024 annual policy meeting on admissions, which was held at the Body of Benchers, Headquarters, Abuja.

The meeting was held following the successful conduct of the 2024 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).

The policy meeting was chaired by the Minister of Education, Professor Tahir Mamman, and decided following recommendations by the heads of institutions.

Registrar of JAMB Registrar, Professor Is-haq Oloyede, who announced the cutoff marks, explained that individual institutions were at liberty to raise their minimum benchmark approved at the policy meeting but could not go below what was approved for various institutions.

Meanwhile, after the protest that greeted his decision to benchmark entry year into tertiary institutions in the country to 18 years, Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, has rescinded the decision.

He said his decision that only candidates who have clocked 18 years be offered admissions now takes effect from 2025.

To this effect, the minister said heads of tertiary institutions could be allowed to admit candidates who are 16 years of age.

Earlier, the minister while delivering his address as chairman of the 2024 Joint Admissions Matriculation Board’s (JAMB) policy meeting on Education holding on Thursday in Abuja, had called for enforcement of 18 years as the new minimum admission age for admission into tertiary institutions in the country.

Immediately after the Minister of Education, Prof Tahir Mamman made the announcement, the stakeholders who turned out their members from across tertiary institutions in the country, voiced resistance which turned the session into a rowdy one.

The minister who seemed unperturbed with the development, had continued with his address as he tried to give reasons for pegging the new admission benchmark at 18.

It took the intervention of the registrar of JAMB, Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, to restore order to the policy meeting with his plea of “Please pay attention please!”

The policy meeting on education is an annual event. It authorised the commencement of admission into tertiary institutions in the country.