Candidates less than 18 years can’t write WAEC, NECO from 2025—FG

Education Minister Professor Tahir Mamman said on Sunday that underage candidates would no longer be allowed to sit for the secondary school certificate examinations.

The minister stated this on Channels Television’s “Politics Today” programme.

He said the Federal Government had instructed the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), which administers the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), and the National Examinations Council (NECO), which organises the Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) to comply with the directive on 18 years age limit for any candidate to be eligible for the two examinations.

Mamman also said that the age limit for any candidate to be admitted to any Nigerian university remained 18 years.

The minister said, “It is 18 (years). What we did at the meeting that we had with the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) (in July) was to allow this year and for it to serve as a kind of notice for parents that this year, JAMB will admit students who are below that age but from next year, JAMB is going to insist that anybody applying to go to university in Nigeria meets the required age, which is 18.

“For the avoidance of doubt, this is not a new policy; this is a policy that has been there for a long time.”