Following a surge of “unusual complaints” from applicants following the results’ announcement on Friday, the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board has announced a review of the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination results, according to DEBORAH TOLU-KOLAWOLE.
The results of the 2025 Unified Tertiary and Matriculation Examination were formally made public by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board on Friday.
The Board published official outcome statistics prior to the release.
Of the 1,955,069 results that were processed, just 4,756 candidates (0.24%) received a score of 320 or higher, which is regarded as top-tier performance, according to the examination body.
7,658 candidates (0.39%) scored between 300–319, increasing the total for those who scored 300 and above to 12,414 candidates (0.63%).
Additionally, while 334,560 candidates (17.11%) scored between 200 and 249, 73,441 candidates (3.76%) scored between 250 and 299 as well.
983,187 applicants (50.29%) received scores in the range of 160 to 199, which is generally accepted as the minimal requirement for admission to many universities.
Accordingly, 2,031 candidates (0.10%) scored below 100, 3,820 candidates (0.20%) scored between 100 and 119, 57,419 candidates (2.94%) scored between 120 and 139, and 488,197 candidates (24.97%) 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.
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 numbers are similar with those of the last 12 years,” he said.
Seventy-six percent of applicants who took the UTME in 2024 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.
Of the 1.3 million candidates who took the 2021 UTME, only 803 (0.06%) received a score higher than 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. 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 contenders have denied their findings, claiming they don’t accurately represent their abilities. More than 8,000 applicants are said to have complained about technological difficulties they encountered during the test.
Using the hashtag #thisisnotmyresult, the candidates, their families, and other worried Nigerians have also resorted to social media to voice their displeasure with the results, claiming that they do not accurately represent their performances. 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. Please listen to our request. The applicant wrote on X, “I can’t go from 285 to 156.” Here’s another post from @quwam001: “To @JAMBHQ, Something.
In a statement by its spokesperson, Fabian Benjamin, the board said it is fast advancing its yearly system assessment, a complete post-mortem of the examination process, as a result of the ‘significant volume of anomalous complaints’ that followed the release of the 2025 UTME results on Friday.
“As we do with the exams themselves, we will promptly implement appropriate remedial measures if it is determined that there were indeed glitches,” the board stated.
According to the board, the exceptional complaints from a few states within the federation are of special concern.
The statement claims that the board is carefully reviewing these concerns in order to find and address any possible technical problems.
