JAMB withholds underage candidates’ results, sets 320 score bar for exceptional category

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board has explained that candidates whose results are showing “No Result Yet” on its portal are underage applicants whose scores have been deliberately withheld pending a separate screening process.

JAMB’s Head of Public Affairs and Protocol, Dr Fabian Benjamin, disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday, saying the Board had received a high volume of inquiries from parents concerned about the status of their children’s results.

Under JAMB regulations, only candidates who will be at least 16 years old by September 30, 2026, are eligible to sit the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination.

However, the Board makes provision for underage candidates who demonstrate exceptional ability, subject to strict conditions.

According to JAMB, only underage candidates who score 320 and above in the UTME will be shortlisted and invited to proceed to subsequent screening stages.

Candidates who scale through that process may then be considered for admission under the exceptional candidates provision — an arrangement the Board said was reached and endorsed by the parents of the affected candidates.

“For now, results for underage candidates remain unreleased,” the statement read.

The Board urged parents to await further communication and assured that only those who meet the prescribed threshold would advance to the next stage