The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has admitted that a combination of human and technological errors affected the integrity of the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), prompting the rescheduling of the test for nearly 380,000 candidates across six states.
The board, however, ruled out sabotage and has taken full responsibility for the oversight.
JAMB Registrar, Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, made the disclosure during a press briefing in Abuja, where he became emotional while addressing the press. He stated that 379,997 candidates from Lagos, Imo, Anambra, Enugu, Ebonyi, and Abia states will resit the exam starting tomorrow. Affected candidates will receive SMS notifications regarding their new examination schedules.
“It was a combination of human error and technology. We are sincerely sorry,” Prof. Oloyede said. “What should have been a moment of joy has turned sour due to one or two errors. While it was not sabotage, the failure of one of our two service providers to properly update the software was inexcusable. I apologise and take full responsibility.”
Prof. Oloyede, a former Vice Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, explained that the errors were discovered after a comprehensive review, which revealed that the technical personnel of one service provider failed to update critical grading software on delivery servers in centres located in Lagos and the Southeast.
According to JAMB, 65 centres (206,610 candidates) in Lagos and 92 centres (173,387 candidates) in the Southeast were affected by the glitch. The UTME was conducted from April 24 to May 5 in over 700 computer-based testing centres nationwide. Results were released on 9 May, but sparked widespread complaints from candidates over alleged discrepancies in their scores.
The Registrar said that in response to public concerns, JAMB fast-tracked its post-examination audit, which had originally been scheduled for June. Emergency meetings were held with stakeholders, including education experts, psychometricians, and student bodies, to assess the situation and propose corrective measures.
Despite the setback, Prof. Oloyede revealed that one candidate achieved a record-high score of 374—the highest in 15 years—though the identity of the candidate was not disclosed.
JAMB also released performance statistics for the 2025 UTME, which showed that only 0.63 per cent of candidates scored 300 and above, with over 78 per cent scoring below 200 out of a possible 400 marks. Specifically:
983,187 candidates (50.29%) scored between 160 and 199
488,197 (24.97%) scored between 140 and 159
334,560 (17.11%) scored between 200 and 249
73,441 (3.76%) scored between 250 and 299
12,414 (0.63%) scored 300 and above
4,756 (0.24%) scored 320 and above
2,031 (0.10%) scored below 100
The UTME is a compulsory examination for admission into Nigerian universities and tests candidates in English and three other subjects related to their chosen field of study.
Prof. Oloyede concluded by acknowledging the damage to JAMB’s reputation and expressed a commitment to restoring public confidence. “We are human and not perfect, but we are transparent. This incident is regrettable, and we assure Nigerians of our resolve to prevent such occurrences in the future,” he said.
