THE Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has released a comprehensive statistical breakdown of the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) results, offering a full picture of how Nigerian candidates performed in the examination conducted across the country.
Students and parents had lamented frustrations and chaos emanating from Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) which began on Thursday, April 24, across the country.
There were reports of network and technical issues affecting the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board’s (JAMB) computer-based test (CBT) centers, potentially delaying or preventing candidates from taking the examination.
According to JAMB official figures, a total of 1,955,069 candidates sat for the UTME, with performance across score ranges as follows: 320 and above (4,756 or 0.24 percent), 300–319 (7,658 or 0.39 percent), 300 and above (12,414 or 0.63 percent), 250–299 (73,441 or 3.76 percent), 200–249 (334,560 or 17.11 percent).
The candidates who scored 160–199 are 983,187 or 50.29 percent; 140–159 (488,197 or 24.97 percent); 120–139 (57,419 or 2.94 percent), 100–119 (3,820 or 0.20 percent, while those who scored below 100 are 2,031 or 0.10 percent.
Many candidates who wrote their examinations described their experience as tougher than expected. Some reported that questions, especially in Mathematics, Physics, and Commerce, were challenging, while Use of English was described as fair.
Ugonma Perpetual, who sat her UTME at Mount Gilead Convent at Igando in Lagos State, told BusinessDay that at her centre, the Use of English had problems, questions one to 10 did not show, but only answers, besides, the number of questions were more than what was stipulated. “Our English, it’s supposed to be one to 60 but it’s one to 55, and question one 10 didn’t appear,” she said.
Another candidate, who gave her name as Nmesoma, shared her worry after experiencing a technical issue during her examination where her computer turned off automatically before she could finish.
“My system automatically turned off on its own. Will my answers be submitted?” she asked.
Saviour Essien, shared a frustrating but sadly common experience during this year’s UTME, dealing with long delays despite arriving early.
“Imagine 6:30 am examination, I rushed so I didn’t miss it and I didn’t even eat.
This year, 40,247 underage candidates (i.e., those below 16 years) participated in the UTME, following a policy that allows exceptionally gifted students to sit for the exam. However, only 467 of them (1.16percent) scored 300 and above—the minimum benchmark to be considered “exceptionally gifted” under JAMB’s classification. Their overall admission fate will depend on three additional post-exam evaluation stages yet to be conducted.
JAMB noted that 97 candidates were directly involved in examination misconduct and their results have been withheld. 2,157 candidates are currently being investigated for suspected malpractice, including impersonation, illegal assistance, and tampering with exam systems. Additionally, 71,701 candidates were recorded as absent from their examination centres.
A significant number of candidates experienced biometric verification issues, which prevented them from taking the exam at their original schedule. These candidates are still under investigation, and only those who are cleared will be rescheduled to write the exam at special centres.
JAMB confirmed that results of blind candidates and others under the JAMB Equal Opportunity Group (JEOG) are still being processed. Their exam was conducted under special arrangements using Braille and Read-A loud modes, with full compliance to the standard test content. The release of these results will follow the final round of reviews and validation.
The board has also announced that it will host a press conference later in the week to formally announce the release of all candidates’ results.