by Adedamola Ogunbewon
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has admitted to errors that impacted the performance of candidates in the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
The Board’s Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, made the disclosure on Wednesday during a press briefing in Abuja.
“What should have been a moment of joy has changed due to one or two errors,” Oloyede stated.
The UTME, which is a key gateway into Nigeria’s tertiary institutions, assesses candidates in four subjects, including the compulsory Use of English and three others based on the student’s chosen field.
Out of the 1.9 million candidates who sat for the exam, more than 1.5 million scored below 200 out of the total 400 marks — a result that has sparked widespread concern in the education sector.
According to JAMB, 1,955,069 results were processed. Of this figure, only 4,756 candidates (0.24%) scored 320 and above, while 7,658 candidates (0.39%) scored between 300 and 319, bringing the total number of candidates who scored 300 and above to just 12,414 (0.63%).
A further breakdown showed 73,441 candidates (3.76%) scored between 250 and 299, while 334,560 (17.11%) scored between 200 and 249.
The majority 983,187 candidates (50.29%) scored between 160 and 199, which is often considered the minimum threshold for admission in many tertiary institutions.
Additionally, 488,197 (24.97%) scored between 140 and 159; 57,419 (2.94%) scored between 120 and 139; 3,820 (0.20%) scored between 100 and 119; and 2,031 candidates (0.10%) scored below 100.
In total, over 75% of the candidates scored below 200, considered the average mark for an examination graded over 400.
Following the development, some affected candidates have threatened to take legal action against JAMB.
“We appreciate our critics for not being indifferent,” Oloyede stated.
“The unusual level of complaints prompted an immediate audit of the 2025 UTME, and our findings regrettably confirm that some candidates were impacted by a technical error during result processing,” he added.
According to the Registrar, the issue stemmed from a software update applied to a segment of JAMB’s computer-based testing system—referred to internally as the “LAG” operational zone, which includes Lagos and the South-East.
He said this update, designed to shuffle examination options to align with international best practices, was erroneously deployed in a way that corrupted data on some delivery servers.
“Specifically, the glitch affected 206,610 candidates across 65 centres in Lagos State and 173,387 candidates in 92 centres across the South-East region—totaling 379,997 affected candidates.
The Registrar revealed that the affected tests occurred between Friday, April 25, and Monday, April 28. “From Tuesday, April 29 onward, the issue had been corrected and all subsequent exams ran smoothly,” he noted.
He blamed the error on “patch errors” that occurred during the re-uploading of corrected examination responses.
“Inadvertently, the service provider failed to update certain delivery servers. This oversight, unfortunately, escaped detection before the results were released.”
Despite the glitch, JAMB’s data showed that the top scorer in the 2025 UTME recorded 374 marks—the highest in more than a decade, surpassing previous top scores ranging from 299 to 367 between 2013 and 2024.
Oloyede used the opportunity to underscore JAMB’s stringent quality assurance framework, which he said includes multiple layers of internal and external monitoring.
These involve Peace Monitors (former university principal officers), Chief External Examiners (vice-chancellors, rectors, provosts), technical consultants, and civil society observers. All JAMB technical staff are also screened with their National Identification Numbers (NINs) for accountability.
“We simulate, we rehearse, we upgrade—yet something still went wrong. It’s a classic case of ‘man proposes, God disposes’,” he said.
He said the Board has already begun working with software engineers, psychometric experts, and stakeholders to determine corrective measures for the affected candidates.
Oloyede assured that JAMB would uphold fairness, promising that “appropriate remedial steps would be taken promptly.”
“The integrity of our examination is paramount. We are not just listening—we are acting.”
The Registrar concluded by reiterating the Board’s commitment to transparency and excellence, stating that a full technical report would be made public in due course.
He said affected candidates are advised to await further updates as JAMB finalises the rectification process.