A total of 379,997 candidates in the five states of the South East geographical zone and Lagos were affected by the glitches in the 2025 Unified Tertiary and Matriculation Examination (UTME).
During press briefing in Abuja on Wednesday, the Registrar of the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, who broke into tears and apologised for the errors in the 2025 UTME, said: ‘Two hundred and six thousand, six hundred and ten (206,610) in 65 centres were affected in Lagos and 92 centres in Owerri zone, comprising of 173,387 candidates in the five states of the South East were affected’.
The UTME is a critical prerequisite for admission into tertiary institutions in Nigeria. It tests candidates in four subjects, including the compulsory Use of English, with the other three drawn from their proposed field of study.
Of the 1.9 million candidates who sat the UTME, over 1.5 million reportedly scored below 200 out of the maximum 400 marks, raising concerns across the education sector.
According to the examination agency, 1,955,069 results were processed, out of which only 4,756 candidates (0.24%) scored 320 and above, considered top-tier performance, while 7,658 candidates (0.39%) scored between 300 and 319, bringing the total for those who scored 300 and above to 12,414 candidates (0.63%).
Also, 73,441 candidates (3.76%) scored between 250 and 299 while 334,560 candidates (17.11%) 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%) scored between 140 and 159, 57,419 candidates (2.94%) scored between 120 and 139, 3,820 candidates (0.20%) scored between 100 and 119, and 2,031 candidates (0.10%) scored below 100.
Over 75% of all candidates (1.5 million) scored below 200, average score seeing as the examination is graded over 400.
‘I apologise for the trauma caused the candidates’, Oloyede said tearfully during a press conference.
Some affected candidates threatened to initiate a lawsuit against JAMB, the organisers of UTME.
