Three state owned Universities in Lagos will not admit any candidate who scored below 185 in the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, the Lagos State Government announced on Wednesday, directly rejecting the 150 minimum cut off mark set by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board for university admissions nationwide.

Commissioner for Tertiary Education, Tolani Sule, disclosed this position during a ministerial press briefing at the Bagauda Kaltho Press Centre, Alausa, marking the third year of Governor Babajide Sanwo Olu's second term in office.

Sule described the approved JAMB benchmark as incompatible with Lagos standards, arguing that the state could not reduce its academic requirements to align with states classified as educationally disadvantaged.

"For JAMB to announce 150 as the cut off mark out of the 400 obtainable marks in the UTME for this year's admission seekers is very low," he stated.

The commissioner maintained that Lagos occupies a distinct educational standing that sets it apart from states with weaker indices, making a uniform national threshold unsuitable for its Institutions.

"Lagos cannot be considered educationally disadvantaged to the extent of bringing its cut off mark down to meet what Sokoto or Zamfara State requires," Sule noted.

He acknowledged that JAMB's decision was designed to accommodate candidates from all six geopolitical zones but maintained that Lagos Institutions would not apply the same standard.

"To us in Lagos State, the cut off marks approved by JAMB look too low for our Universities. None of our three Universities is admitting any student who scored below 185 in the UTME," he added.

Beyond the cut off dispute, Sule revealed plans to expand state university capacity further. The number of Lagos state owned universities has grown from one to three under the current administration, with plans underway to establish a fourth Institution.

"Increasing our Universities from one to three is still part of what the state governor is doing to provide more educational platforms and opportunities for Lagos residents," he disclosed.

"And increasing the number to four is still part of this effort by the state government to allow all admission seekers to get tertiary education in Lagos," Sule said.

The commissioner affirmed that the state government remained committed to expanding access to tertiary education without lowering academic standards.