In a surprising revelation, the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has admitted that errors occurred during the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), potentially affecting the performance of hundreds of thousands of candidates.
At a press briefing held in Abuja on Wednesday, JAMB Registrar Prof. Ishaq Oloyede stated, “What should have been a moment of joy has changed due to one or two errors.”
The UTME is a major gateway for gaining admission into tertiary institutions in Nigeria. This year, over 1.9 million students took the exam, but more than 1.5 million scored below 200—a performance range seen as average or below for the 400-mark test.
A breakdown of the scores revealed that only 4,756 candidates (0.24%) scored 320 and above, while just 12,414 candidates (0.63%) managed to score 300 and above. Around 73,441 scored between 250 and 299, and 334,560 scored between 200 and 249.
Most candidates—about 983,187 (50.29%)—scored between 160 and 199. Others fared even worse, with 488,197 (24.97%) scoring between 140 and 159, and a smaller number falling below 120 marks.
The backlash has been swift, with some candidates threatening to sue JAMB over the outcome. The examination body has yet to outline any immediate steps for redress or remarking.
