EXPLAINER: What Next After JAMB Admits Errors in 2025 UTME Results?

After a week of controversy, the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has admitted to errors in the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) results.

The release of the results on Friday, May 9, 2025, was met with shock and a wave of complaints from candidates, parents, and educators, who raised the alarm over unusually low scores, technical glitches, and discrepancies in the results.

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With over 1.5 million out of 1.9 million candidates scoring below 200 out of a possible 400 marks, the controversy has raised questions about the credibility of the examination process and the steps that will follow.

In response to the backlash, JAMB, on Monday, May 12, 2025, acknowledged the “significant volume of unusual complaints” following the release of the results and engaged a number of experts to scrutinise these complaints in detail, in order to identify and rectify any potential technical issues.

“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 spokesperson Fabian Benjamin said in a statement.

Now that the board has confirmed it found glitches, what next for affected candidates? EKO HOT BLOG breaks down the steps here:

Background

The 2025 UTME, which was held between 24 April and 5 May, saw over 1.94 million candidates sit for the computer-based examination—a prerequisite for admission into tertiary institutions.

However, the results, released on Friday, revealed a troubling statistic: approximately 78% of candidates scored below 200—one of the lowest performance levels in recent years. Only 4,756 candidates scored 320 and above, and 12,414 scored 300 and above, indicating a significant drop in high-performing candidates.

An analysis of a ten-year trend of UTME results by EKO HOT BLOG showed that the 2025 outcome was the third worst in a decade.

Candidates and their families took to social media, using hashtags like #ThisIsNotMyResult, to protest what they described as inexplicable score drops. For instance, some candidates who scored above 280 in the 2024 UTME reported scores as low as 156 in 2025.

Others cited technical issues during the exam—such as incomplete questions or system malfunctions—which they believe affected their performance. The public outcry prompted JAMB to acknowledge “technical glitches” and “sabotage” that impacted the results.

JAMB admits technical glitches affected the UTME results of nearly 400,000 candidates

On Wednesday, JAMB Registrar Professor Ishaq Oloyede publicly apologised, taking full responsibility for the errors and outlining remedial measures. This admission has shifted focus to what happens next for affected candidates and the examination body.

JAMB’s Response on Next Steps

Firstly, Professor Oloyede admitted that 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.

The JAMB boss said the problem—caused by one of the two technical service providers for the exercise—went undetected before the results were released.

He stated that 65 centres in Lagos (206,610 candidates) and 92 centres in the Owerri zone (173,387 candidates) were affected, bringing the total number of impacted candidates to 379,997.

To address the issue, JAMB announced it will conduct a rescheduled UTME for all affected candidates starting Friday, 16 May 2025.

The board stated that affected candidates will be notified via SMS, email, and phone calls starting Thursday, 15 May 2025, and are advised to reprint their examination slips for details on the rescheduled tests.

Meanwhile, the results of 39,834 candidates remain withheld due to suspected examination malpractice, with 2,185 others under investigation. These candidates will not participate in the resit until reviews are concluded.

Despite these remedial moves, JAMB continues to face criticism for the failure of its systems and its inability to detect the issues early.

FURTHER READING

• ANALYSIS: How 2025 UTME Results Compare to the Last Ten Years

• What Nigeria Being Capital of Malnourished Children in Africa Means for Future

• INSIGHT: Should You Eat More Salt as Pastor Oyakhilome Advised?

Going forward, these failures may impact the integrity of the UTME process, casting doubt on the credibility of future examination outcomes.

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