JAMB has ordered an immediate review of the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME). The action follows a wave of public outrage and complaints over suspected technical glitches, incomplete questions, and unusually low scores, recorded in the UTME.
By Emma Ogbuehi
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has ordered an immediate review of the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME). The action follows a wave of public outrage and complaints over suspected technical glitches, incomplete questions, and unusually low scores, recorded in the UTME.
The directive comes on the heels of the Minister for education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, explaining the high failure rate as clear evidence of government’s anti-malpractice measures yielding results, especially within the JAMB system. Alausa who made the assertion on appearance on Channels Television, said “That’s a big concern, and it’s a reflection of exams being done the proper way. JAMB conducts its exam using a computer-based testing system. They’ve implemented strong security measures, and as a result, fraud or cheating has been completely eliminated. Unfortunately, we cannot say the same for WAEC and NECO”, he said.
READ ALSO:
2025 JAMB results, our failure as a nation
JAMB Registrar, Is-haq Oloyede, also dismissed claims that the 2025 results were unprecedented. He pointed out that similar performance trends have been recorded in previous years.
Notwithstanding, JAMB in a statement issued by its Public Communication Advisor, Fabian Benjamin, acknowledged what it described as an “unusual volume of complaints” since the release of the UTME results last Friday.
It said the development had prompted it to fast-track its annual post-examination review process, which typically takes place months after the exercise.
“We are particularly concerned about the unusual complaints originating from a few states within the federation. We are currently scrutinising these complaints in detail to identify and rectify any potential technical issues,” the statement read.
The spokesperson explained that the annual review covers three stages of the UTME cycle—registration, examination, and result release.
He added that if any faults are found in the system, JAMB would not hesitate to implement “appropriate remedial measures.
“To assist in this process, we have engaged a number of experts, including members from the Computer Professionals Association of Nigeria, Chief External Examiners, who are heads of tertiary institutions, the Educational Assessment and Research Network in Africa, measurement experts, and Vice Chancellors from various institutions.”
The exam board noted that “If it is determined that there were indeed glitches, we will implement appropriate remedial measures promptly, as we do in the case of the examinations themselves.”
JAMB’s intervention comes amid reports that thousands of candidates are preparing to file a class-action lawsuit against the Board over the alleged irregularities. Many claim they encountered technical malfunctions and inconsistent question displays during the examination.
Analysis of the result indicated that out of the 1,955,069 applicants who took the examination only 420,415 candidates scored higher than 200. By implication, more than 1.5 million did not meet the threshold. Of the lot, less than 1% of the candidates scored higher than 300 on the test, while 75% of the candidates scored lower than 200.
JAMB also disclosed that 2,157 candidates who sat for the 2025 UTME are currently under investigation for alleged examination malpractices. It added that only 467 of the 40,247 underage candidates permitted to take the exam met the exceptional ability threshold, representing just 1.16% of that group.
