JAMB Acknowledges Errors in 2025 UTME That Affected Candidate Performance
May 14, 2025 | By Deborah Tolu-Kolawole
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has officially admitted to significant errors in the conduct of the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), which negatively impacted candidate performance nationwide.
Speaking at a press briefing in Abuja on Wednesday, JAMB Registrar, Professor Ishaq Oloyede, acknowledged the faults, saying, “What should have been a moment of joy has changed due to one or two errors.”
The UTME, a standardized test required for admission into Nigerian tertiary institutions, is scored over 400 and covers four subjects, including English and three others based on a candidate’s intended field of study.
Data released by JAMB shows a concerning decline in performance among the 1,955,069 candidates who took the 2025 exam:
- Only 4,756 candidates (0.24%) scored 320 and above.
- A total of 12,414 candidates (0.63%) scored above 300.
- 73,441 (3.76%) scored between 250–299.
- 334,560 (17.11%) scored between 200–249.
- Over 983,000 (50.29%) scored between 160–199 — a common cut-off for many institutions.
- Alarmingly, 2,031 candidates (0.10%) scored below 100.
Altogether, more than 75% of all candidates scored below 200, a score generally regarded as the midpoint in the 400-mark system.
The widespread low scores have triggered backlash from students and guardians, with some affected candidates threatening legal action against JAMB.
The 2025 result controversy has reignited public discourse around the integrity, reliability, and transparency of Nigeria’s higher education admissions process.
