Mass Failure Alert: JAMB, VCs Set to Review 2025 UTME Results This Thursday!

Candidates protest results inconsistencies, and JAMB executives will meet with examiners, provosts, principals, and rectors.

In response to what it called “unusual” public objections, the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board will examine the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination results on Thursday.

The review meeting would bring together vice-chancellors, provosts, rectors, school principals, examiners, and technical experts to examine the examination process and address the general discontent among candidates and stakeholders, according to a notice obtained by The PUNCH in Abuja.

This comes as applicants and parents began to protest the results last Friday, with many claiming that there were irregularities and technological issues during the examination.

It further said that the board will not be charged for the panel’s assignment.

The UTME is a fundamental condition for admission into postsecondary institutions in Nigeria. It examines candidates in four areas, including the required use of English, with the other three taken from their proposed field of study.

More than 1.5 million of the 1.9 million applicants who took the UTME are said to have received scores below 200 out of a possible 400, which has caused alarm in the education community.

In the same way, 2,031 candidates (0.10 percent) scored below 100, 3,820 candidates (0.20 percent) scored between 100 and 119, 57,419 candidates (2.94 percent) scored between 120 and 139, and 488,197 candidates (24.97 percent) scored between 140 and 159.

Given that the exam is graded over 400, more than 75% of all applicants (1.5 million) received scores below 200.

A lawsuit against JAMB was threatened by a few impacted candidates.

Dr. Fabian Benjamin, JAMB’s spokesperson, responded to the uproar on Monday by stating that the board was speeding up its yearly post-examination system assessment, which normally evaluates the registration, examination, and outcome phases months after the exercise.

Benjamin said, “We are especially concerned about the unusual complaints coming from a few states within the federation.”

“We are carefully reviewing these complaints right now to find and address any possible technical problems.”

The statement claims that the board is carefully reviewing these concerns in order to find and address any possible technical problems.

JAMB said the yearly review comprises three essential stages: registration, examination, and result release.

It clarified that JAMB makes sure all candidates have the chance to take the test, and in the event that there are any technological difficulties, the board reschedules the test for the impacted candidates.

Benjamin said, “We are especially concerned about the unusual complaints coming from a few states within the federation.”

“We are carefully reviewing these complaints right now to find and address any possible technical problems.”

The statement claims that the board is carefully reviewing these concerns in order to find and address any possible technical problems.

JAMB said the yearly review comprises three essential stages: registration, examination, and result release.

According to JAMB, specialists have been enlisted to help in the review.

In response to the findings, JAMB Registrar Prof. Ishaq Oloyede stated that the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination performance numbers are consistent with those from the previous 12 years.

However, he emphasized that these outcomes are not out of the ordinary and are consistent with past trends.

“This is not an unusual occurrence this year.” The performance metrics align with the previous 12 years,” he stated.

Seventy-six percent of applicants who took the UTME in 2024 received a score below 200.

In 2022, 1.3 million applicants out of 1.7 million—or 78 percent—who sat the 2022 UTME scored below 200, according to JAMB.

In 2021, just 803 candidates out of 1.3 million—or 0.06 percent—who sat the 2021 UTME scored above 300.

In response to the findings, Education Minister Dr. Tunji Alausa stated that the high failure rate in the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination was unmistakable proof that the government’s anti-malpractice initiatives were working, particularly in the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board system.

In the meantime, the JAMB board promised that, by its established protocols, any candidate impacted by technical difficulties during the test will be given another chance to take it.

Dr. Tunji Alausa, the Minister of Education, commented on the performance outcome and insisted that it reflected the federal government’s increased efforts to prevent exam misconduct and safeguard the integrity of the admissions process.

However, parents and candidates have persisted in claiming inconsistencies in the results that were made public, with some urging the Board to make public the methods by which it assigned each candidate a score.

A few applicants have denied their findings, claiming they don’t accurately represent their abilities.

A group of more than 8,000 applicants allegedly complained about technological difficulties they encountered during the test.

Concerns were raised by social media user @Pennyfabz, who received a score of 156, pointing out that she had previously received a score of 285 in the last UTME.