By Abiola Olawale
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has officially admitted errors in the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) following widespread complaints from candidates and stakeholders.
The announcement comes after over 1.5 million of the 1.9 million candidates scored below 200 out of 400, sparking public outcry.
JAMB Registrar,, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede who made this announcement while addressing a press briefing in Abuja, said: “What should have been a moment of joy has changed due to one or two errors.” He spoke in Abuja on Wednesday, breaking down in tears. He admitted that the body under his watch failed as it would have avoided these errors.
This comes after several candidates reported technical glitches, including incomplete question displays and inaccurate software performance during the computer-based examination held between April 24 and May 5.
Recall that JAMB’s data revealed that of the 1.9 million candidates who sat the UTME, over 1.5 million scored below 200 out of the maximum 400 marks.
According to the examination body, a total of 1,955,069 results were processed, out of which only 4,756 candidates (0.24 per cent) scored 320 and above, considered top-tier performance, while 7,658 candidates (0.39 per cent) scored between 300 and 319, bringing the total for those who scored 300 and above to 12,414 candidates (0.63 per cent).
Also, 73,441 candidates (3.76 per cent) scored between 250 and 299 while 334,560 candidates (17.11 per cent) scored between 200 and 249.
A total of 983,187 candidates (50.29 per cent) scored between 160 and 199, which is widely regarded as the minimum threshold for admissions in many institutions.
In the same vein, 488,197 candidates (24.97 per cent) scored between 140 and 159, 57,419 candidates (2.94 per cent) scored between 120 and 139, 3,820 candidates (0.20 per cent) scored between 100 and 119, and 2,031 candidates (0.10 per cent) scored below 100.
Over 75 per cent of all candidates (1.5 million) scored below 200, an average score seeing as the examination is graded over 400.
