The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has attributed the poor performance of many candidates at this year’s Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) to technical difficulties experienced across several exam centres
JAMB Registrar Professor Ishaq Oloyede disclosed this during a press conference held in Abuja on Wednesday.
Oloyede became visibly emotional while offering an apology for the shortcomings that marred the examination process.
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He said, “We take full responsibility for the setbacks. Despite our best efforts, we are human and not infallible.”
He reaffirmed the Board’s commitment to transparency, fairness, and continuous improvement.
Following the issues, JAMB announced that 379,997 candidates will be required to retake the UTME starting from 16 May 2025.
This decision came after widespread complaints about malfunctioning systems, inconsistent scoring, and allegations of flawed question formats at various centres.
In a post shared on its official X (formerly Twitter) account on Wednesday, JAMB revealed that a system error disrupted the exam process in 157 out of the 887 centres used for the 2025 exercise.
The board described the incident as an act of fate, stating, “Man proposes, God disposes.”
“Man Proposes, God Disposes! It has been established that a technical glitch affected 157 centres out of the 887 centres in the 2025 UTME. This was basically responsible for the general low performance of the candidates scheduled to sit the examination in those centres.
“As such, all the affected candidates will be contacted to reprint their examination slips towards retaking their examinations starting from 16th May, 2025”, JAMB wrote on X.
JAMB also released a detailed analysis of the 2025 results.
Out of the 1,955,069 candidates who sat for the UTME, only 12,414 scored 300 or above—less than one percent of the total.
Specifically, 4,756 candidates achieved scores of 320 and above, while 7,658 scored between 300 and 319.
A large majority—over 78 percent—scored below 200, with the highest concentration of candidates, 983,187, falling within the 160–199 range.
Another 488,197 scored between 140 and 159, and only 334,560 reached the 200–249 bracket. At the lower end, 2,031 candidates recorded scores below 100.
JAMB further disclosed that 40,247 underage candidates were allowed to sit for the UTME on the basis of “exceptional ability.”
However, just 467 of them (1.16 percent) met the board’s benchmark for such distinction.
In comparison, the 2024 UTME saw 1.94 million registered candidates, with 1.9 million eventually taking the test across 118 towns and more than 700 centres.
That year, only 0.4 percent of candidates scored 300 or above, and 24 percent managed 200 or more.
Regarding examination conduct, 97 candidates were caught engaging in malpractice in 2025, while over 2,100 others remain under investigation.
JAMB said biometric issues also affected some candidates, and those cleared after verification will be scheduled for makeup exams.
Some results, including those for visually impaired candidates and those in the JEOG category, are still being processed and will be released upon completion.
In response to the overwhelming criticism that followed the release of the 2025 UTME results, JAMB launched an immediate post-examination review—typically conducted months later.
Fabian Benjamin, the Board’s Public Communication Advisor, confirmed this in a statement, citing “an unusual volume of complaints from certain regions.”
Benjamin noted that if systemic flaws were uncovered, corrective measures would be taken.
To ensure objectivity, JAMB has enlisted support from various experts, including members of the Computer Professionals Association of Nigeria, heads of tertiary institutions, and assessment specialists.
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Meanwhile, the Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, commented on the mass failure during a television interview last week, attributing it to the enhanced integrity of JAMB’s computer-based testing, which he claimed made cheating nearly impossible.
He called for the adoption of similar technology in other national exams like WAEC and NECO.
Nevertheless, pressure on the examination body continues to build, with reports of potential lawsuits being considered by aggrieved candidates seeking redress.
