By Ajewole Joshua|ABNews|October 14, 2025
The Federal Government has approved a major adjustment to admission criteria into Nigerian tertiary institutions, announcing that students in the arts and humanities will no longer be required to obtain a credit pass in Mathematics before qualifying for admission.
The new guideline, announced by the Federal Ministry of Education on Tuesday, overturns a policy that has existed for decades—one which placed students of non-science disciplines under the same mathematics requirement as engineering and science applicants.
According to a report originally published by The Punch, the revised National Guidelines for Entry Requirements into Nigerian Tertiary Institutions now classify Mathematics as compulsory only for Science, Technology and Social Science-based courses, while English Language remains mandatory across all disciplines.
Under the new framework:
- Universities will admit arts and humanities students with five credit passes including English, while Mathematics is required solely for science-related courses.
- Polytechnics (ND level) will demand four relevant credits including English for non-science courses, and Mathematics where applicable.
- HND and Colleges of Education will maintain Mathematics only for technical and science-based programmes.
Education analysts have welcomed the move as a practical correction to an outdated system. Ayodamola Oluwatoyin, speaking to reporters in Abuja, said the former policy had “unfairly shut out thousands of capable candidates whose academic strengths lie outside numeracy.”
Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, said the reform is part of a broader effort to increase annual tertiary admissions from about 700,000 to one million candidates. He explained that more than two million students write the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) annually, yet less than half secure admission due to what he called “unnecessarily rigid entry barriers.”
“This reform is not about reducing standards. It is about aligning requirements to relevance,” Alausa stated. “We are expanding opportunities for an additional 250,000 to 300,000 young Nigerians every year.”
With the new rule expected to take effect from the next admission cycle, stakeholders are now watching how tertiary institutions and regulatory bodies like JAMB will operationalise the directive across departments.
For many students who have repeatedly missed opportunities due to Mathematics alone, relief may finally be in sight.
