JAMB admits errors in 2025 UTME

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has officially acknowledged that errors occurred during the conduct of the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), which impacted the performance of a significant number of candidates.

National Daily newspaper reports that the JAMB Registrar, Professor Ishaq Oloyede, made this admission during a press conference held in Abuja on Wednesday.

“What should have been a moment of joy has changed due to one or two errors,” he stated.

The UTME is a crucial mandatory examination for students seeking admission into tertiary institutions across Nigeria, comprising four subjects including compulsory English Language.

This year, over 1.9 million candidates participated in the examination.

However, concerning statistics revealed that more than 1.5 million candidates scored below 200 out of a possible 400 marks.

According to JAMB, the results of 1,955,069 candidates were processed. Of this total, a mere 4,756 candidates (0.24%) achieved scores of 320 and above.

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An additional 7,658 candidates (0.39%) scored between 300 and 319, bringing the total number of candidates scoring 300 and above to just 12,414 (0.63%).

Further analysis of the results indicates the following distribution:

• 73,441 candidates (3.76%) scored between 250 and 299
• 334,560 candidates (17.11%) scored between 200 and 249
• 983,187 candidates (50.29%) scored between 160 and 199 (often considered the minimum admission threshold)
• 488,197 candidates (24.97%) scored between 140 and 159
• 57,419 candidates (2.94%) scored between 120 and 139

Professor Oloyede’s acknowledgment of errors comes amidst growing concerns from candidates and parents regarding the unexpectedly low scores recorded by a large percentage of test-takers.

The nature and extent of the errors admitted by JAMB were not immediately detailed during the press conference.