The results of this year’s Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) left many parents, students, and tutors surprised as 1.5 million out of 1.9 million candidates who sat the exam (representing 78.9 per cent) scored below 200. The numbers and the aftermath are indeed disturbing, but with the examination body admitting error, opportunity has been created for 379,997 candidates to retake the exam. Students and JAMB may have a slim hope of redemption in a UTME like no other before, IYABO LAWAL reports.

The 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) has come and gone, but not without leaving in its wake a trail of experiences, emotions, and excuses.
 
Conducted by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), the UTME is the gateway for millions of Nigerian students who seek admission into tertiary institutions yearly.
  
However, this year’s results have sparked national outrage and introspection. Out of 1.9 million candidates who sat the exam, 1.5 million (78.9 per cent) scored below 200, a benchmark many universities use as a cut-off for admission consideration.
 
These staggering, but unusual statistics have reignited debates about Nigeria’s declining education standards, student preparedness for examinations, and systemic failures that point to JAMB.

But in a twist, the JAMB Registrar, Prof Ishaq Oloyede, admitted an error in the results released, which affected over 379,000 candidates.

He said the board discovered discrepancies linked to faulty server updates in its Lagos and Owerri zones, which led to the failure to upload candidates’ responses during the first three days of the examination.

Oloyede said the problem, which was caused by one of the two technical service providers for the exercise, went undetected before the results were released

He said 65 centres in Lagos, with 206,610 candidates, and 92 centres in Owerri zone with 173,387 candidates were affected.

To address the issue, JAMB said it will conduct a rescheduled UTME for all affected candidates starting tomorrow, May 16.

A glance at the numbers that drew everybody’s ire. The raw data from the examination body paints a sobering picture. Of the 1,955,069 candidates who sat for the 2025 UTME only 4,756 (0.24 per cent) scored 320 and above; 7,658 (0.39 per cent) scored between 300 and 319; 73,441 (3.76 per cent) scored between 250 and 299; 334,560 (17.11 per cent) scored between 200 and 249; a massive 983,187 (50.29 per cent) scored between 160 and 199; and 488,197 (24.97 per cent) scored between 140 and 159. The rest scored even lower.
 
In total, over 1.5 million candidates, that is about 78 per cent, fell below the 200-mark for competitive university admission in the country. The scale of the underperformance is not just a statistical anomaly, it is a symptom of systemic malaise.

FOR many, the UTME ordeal began long before the examination day. In Cross River State, for example, parents and wards said they faced a process fraught with frustration and exhaustion.
 
Indeed, one of the most significant challenges faced by the UTME candidates was the requirement to arrive at the examination centre by 6:30 a.m. While the directive by JAMB was issued to ensure a smooth and orderly start to the exam, stakeholders pointed out that it posed significant difficulties for many students, considering security challenges across the country.
 
Not a few candidates and parents lamented that reaching the Computer-Based Test (CBT) centres on time were a tenuous task. According to reports, many candidates had to wake up as early as 4:00 a.m. to prepare and get to their centres in good time, only to face unexpected delays.
 
Additionally, the early start time also raised concerns about the well-being and safety of the youngsters. However, stakeholders noted that JAMB’s insistence on punctuality, while understandable, seemed to ignore the practical realities faced by the youngsters.
 
“I left my house in the Ikorodu part of Lagos at 4:15 a.m. and still arrived late because there were no buses at that hour,” said Adeola Ogunlesi, a UTME candidate in Lagos.
 
“When I got to the centre at 7:05 a.m., they wouldn’t let me in. All my efforts and preparation became a waste because of this unrealistic timing.”
 
A parent in Cross River State stated that he and other parents had to sleep over at the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) Secondary School to secure registration for their children.
 
Others reported queuing for a week at the University of Calabar Library Registration Centre after failing to register at the FAAN Secondary School. Some parents and their wards travelled a day before the UTME and lodged in hotels at extra costs.
 
CBT centre administrators also felt the strain. Ibrahim Bello, a CBT centre supervisor in Kano, stressed that he understands the security reasons behind early verification, but having hundreds of candidates arrive simultaneously creates chaos and confusion.
 
Bello disclosed that many exhausted students slept on the floor while waiting for their scheduled examination time.
 
The foundation of UTME technology was also disrupted as the process witnessed erratic network connectivity. As a matter of fact, due to network issues, many candidates reported difficulty accessing their examination halls, verifying their registration details, or getting their biometric data captured.
 
These problems caused frustration and anxiety and resulted in delays and, in some cases, denied entry to the examination halls.
 
The digital nature of the examination made network stability crucial. In Enugu, Candidate Chinedu Okeke explained that the system logged him out three times during the Physics examination.
 
“Each time, the invigilator had to restart the computer. I lost about 25 minutes of precious examination time,” Okeke lamented.
 
Biometric failures also caused delays. A candidate, Yusuf Bello from Sokoto, said his fingerprints could not be scanned “no matter what we tried.” After 40 minutes, he was taken to a separate room for manual verification. “By then, I was too stressed to concentrate,” he admitted.
 
The 2025 UTME also witnessed overcrowding at popular CBT centres. A centre administrator in Port Harcourt disclosed: “Our centre was approved for 350 candidates daily, but JAMB kept sending 500-plus candidates.”
 
Some candidates brought doctors’ reports to the JAMB office, requesting rescheduling or relocation to closer centres due to health concerns. For many, the combination of travel, early start times, and unfamiliar locations left a sour taste in their mouths.

A decade of decline
The 2025 UTME results are not an isolated outcome; they are a disaster of unprecedented record and ramifications, as well as the latest signpost to the downhill route that the country’s education system has been heading in. Nigeria has witnessed at least a decade-long journey in declining academic performance.
 
Official data showed that since 2015, the percentage of candidates scoring below 200 has hovered between 70 and 78 per cent, with only minor fluctuations.
 
It was disingenuous of the Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, to claim on national television that the mass failure recorded in the 2025 UTME bore the hallmark of President Bola Tinubu’s integrity seal to stamp out examination malpractice and kick out cheats from the country’s beleaguered education system.
 
Truth be told, the mass failure did not start today, and the JAMB boss, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, confirmed that much. Matter-of-factly, amid the hue and cry that dovetailed the examination, he clarified that the performance statistics for the 2025 UTME are in line with results recorded over the past 12 years.
 
Oloyede, addressing public concerns about this year’s outcome, explained that the results were not unusual.
 
“This is not peculiar to this year. The performance statistics are consistent with those of the last 12 years,” the JAMB boss said.
 
Available records showed that in 2015, approximately 85 per cent of candidates scored below 200; approximately 70 per cent in 2016; and over 70 per cent in 2017.
  
In 2018, 74.1 per cent of candidates scored below 200, with approximately 1.19 million students writing the examination. In 2019, 77 per cent scored below 200, with around 1.40 million students. In 2020, 75 per cent had less than 200 marks.
 
In 2021, the percentage was 75 per cent. It was a similar figure in 2022 and 2023. In 2024, it was 76 per cent and 78 per cent in 2025.
 
Ike Onyechere, Founder of Exam Ethics Marshall International (EEMI) said:  “JAMB has made commendable efforts to ensure the integrity of the examination process by reducing opportunities for malpractice. There’s moral infrastructure decadence in the system. It’s not just about the students, it involves stakeholders: schools, parents, and the government.”
 
Onyechere proposed a reform: only candidates with five credits in the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) or Senior School Certificate Examination conducted by the National Examination Council (NECO), should be allowed to sit the UTME, arguing that this would halve the number of applicants and ensure a more qualified candidate pool.
 
For parents, the 2025 UTME results and the process were a source of sorrow.
 
Saidat Oduwole, a pharmacist, pointed to the declining quality of education, exacerbated by economic hardship.
 
Olufisayo Anthony called for improvements in JAMB’s technical performance, citing complaints about technical glitches during the exam. “This might have affected their performance. JAMB needs to improve on its performance and ensure that these technical glitches become a thing of the past,” he said.
 
Some stakeholders noted that a significant number of teachers in Nigeria’s education system are not qualified to teach, urging schools to employ qualified tutors to ensure sound education for Nigerian students.

Pat on the back
DESPITE the challenges, JAMB deserves credit for several aspects of the 2025 UTME administration. One notable achievement was the board’s commitment to maintaining the integrity and security of the examination process. Measures such as biometric verification and stringent checks helped prevent malpractice and ensure that the examination was conducted fairly.
 
JAMB also made efforts to improve the examination experience for students with disabilities. Special accommodations were provided for students with special needs, demonstrating the board’s recognition of the importance of inclusivity and accessibility in education.
 
JAMB’s use of technology in examination administration marked a significant step towards modernising the education sector. The board’s online platforms and digital tools facilitated a more efficient and transparent examination process, enabling students to access their results and registration details easily.
 
JAMB’s transparency in releasing detailed breakdowns of results and its responsiveness to incidents, such as the hijab controversy at Caleb University, have been widely praised. Many parents and candidates acknowledged improvements in organisation and coordination, especially in major urban centres.
 
In all this, stakeholders believe the exam board can improve well beyond where it is.
 
While JAMB made notable strides in the 2025 UTME, several areas require improvement. One key area is the need for more flexible and realistic examination scheduling.
 
Rather than insisting on a uniform start time, stakeholders opine that JAMB could consider allowing students to take their examinations in batches or at different times, reducing the pressure on students to arrive at the examination centre at an unreasonably early hour.

Another area that they mark out for improvement is network infrastructure and connectivity. Here, they insist that JAMB should invest in robust and reliable network systems that can withstand the demands of large-scale examinations. This could involve partnering with telecommunications companies to provide dedicated network services for examination centres or exploring alternative technologies, such as offline-capable applications, to reduce dependence on network connectivity.
 
Furthermore, stakeholders also urged JAMB to offer more flexible and realistic examination scheduling rather than insisting on a uniform start time by allowing candidates to take their exam in batches or at different times, reducing the pressure on the youngsters to arrive at the CBT centres at an unreasonably early hour.