2025 UTME: JAMB Responds as Angry Candidates and Nigerians Protest Massively Over Low Scores
Some applicants who took the newly announced Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations (UTME) have asked the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) to examine their results, rejecting them.
The candidates, their families, and worried Nigerians have used social media to voice their displeasure with the outcome.
They maintain that their performance is not reflected in the findings that were made public.
In anticipation of a lawsuit against the examination board, Alex Onyia, the CEO of Educare, a school software program, has also started to assemble the list of impacted applicants.
Fabian Benjamin, a JAMB representative, insisted that the candidates’ performance was reflected in their scores.
In answer to a question from PREMIUM TIMES on Saturday, he stated, “For us and the system we run, this is a reflection of their performance.”
“The only test of ability is examination. Overconfidence causes the majority of “brilliant” students to occasionally flunk exams.
2025 UTME
An entrance exam for applicants to Nigerian postsecondary institutions, the Computer-Based UTME is administered annually by JAMB.
Out of the 400 possible points, over 78% of applicants who took the UTME this year received a score of less than 200. A maximum of 100 points can be earned in each of the four subjects that each candidate takes.
Concerns had been raised over what many saw as a huge failure in this year’s exercise.
But according to professor Is-haq Oloyede, JAMB registrar, the findings are in line with the historical pattern. Seventy-six percent of applicants who took the UTME last year received a score below 200.
According to JAMB, 1.3 million of the 1.7 million applicants who took the 2022 UTME, or 78% of the total, received a score of less than 200.
According to Mr. Oloyede, the registrar at the time, just 803 out of 1.3 million candidates, or 0.06 percent, who took the 2021 UTME scored more than 300.
Issues
Candidates have protested their results on social media by using the hashtag #thisisnotmyresult.
After his ward, Amuzienwa Aguruo, received a score of 169 on the 2025 UTME, one dad, Amuzienwa Uchenna, voiced his concerns.
According to the parent, the candidate has performed exceptionally well on the UTME over the past three years, with scores of 236 in 2022, 271 in 2023, and 290 in 2024.
To our biggest surprise, though, his most recent (fourth) result, which was made public in 2025, reveals an abrupt and unexplained decline to an overall score of 169 out of 400, with the following subject scores: English usage: 45 Physics: 41 Biology: 39 Chemistry: 44,” stated Mr. Uchenna.
A social media user named @Pennyfabz, who received a score of 156, voiced her concern, pointing out that she had previously received a score of 285 in the previous UTME.
“To @JAMBHQ, there is a problem with my outcome. I’m positive that this isn’t what I’m supposed to receive. Kindly investigate this issue. I’m genuinely reassuring myself that nothing is wrong. Listen to our request, please. I can’t go from 285 to 156 💔,” the candidate wrote.
The following is another post from @quwam001: “Dear @JAMBHQ, There is a big problem with the UTME results that were just revealed. Our kids’ abilities, efforts, and performance history are not reflected in these scores.
“Egbaze Victoria was told she scored 132 on the UTME last year, even though she scored 295? and numerous others.
The CEO of Educare, Mr. Onyia, has revealed plans to sue the exam board in order to obtain the candidates’ scoring information for validation.
To prepare for the lawsuit, Mr. Onyia invited applicants who were worried about their results to fill out a form in a post on X.
He wrote, “If you’re a student worried that your JAMB score is much lower than expected and you’re positive there’s a mistake, please fill out this form right away.”
“By Monday, we will be pursuing legal action in the Federal High Court to force JAMB to make the scoring information and marking sheet available so that students can confirm the accuracy of their scores.”
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