The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has announced that 379,997 candidates will retake the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) due to a significant JAMB system error.
The development was confirmed by JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, who admitted to technical glitches that affected candidates’ scores.
Oloyede addressing a press conference on Wednesday, admitted that a review of the 2025 UTME revealed the JAMB system error, a development that has already led to the tragic death of one of the distraught candidates who participated in the exam after she reportedly took her own life in Lagos.
He announced that about 379,997 candidates in the just concluded 2025 examination would retake the examination.
Oloyede, who wept profusely, intermittently wiping his face with a handkerchief, said he took full responsibility for the negligence of its staff, revealing that 65 centres in Lagos and 92 centres in Owerri Zone covering the five states in the South East, would rewrite the exam.
“So, I appeal to the candidates and those affected by the error of our system to accept this explanation as the truth of the matter without embellishment, Please. I apologise and take full responsibility, not just in words,” he said.
“We have identified a JAMB system error that affected a significant number of candidates. To ensure fairness, these candidates will retake the examination at no cost.
“In clear terms, in the process of rectifying the issue, the technical personnel deployed by the Service Provider for LAG (Lagos and South-east zones) inadvertently failed to update some of the delivery servers,” he explained.
“Regrettably, this oversight went undetected prior to the release of the results.”
The decision comes after widespread complaints about discrepancies in the recently released UTME results.
The 2025 UTME, conducted across 882 Computer-Based Test (CBT) centres nationwide, saw 1,955,069 candidates vying for tertiary institution admissions. However, the release of results on May 9, 2025, triggered an outcry, with over 78% of candidates scoring below 200 out of 400 obtainable marks.
For instance, some who scored above 270 in 2024 claimed scores as low as 130 in 2025, raising suspicions of a JAMB system error.
According to the examination agency, a total of 1,955,069 results were processed, out of which only 4,756 candidates (0.24 per cent) scored 320 and above, considered top-tier performance, while 7,658 candidates (0.39 per cent) scored between 300 and 319, bringing the total for those who scored 300 and above to 12,414 candidates (0.63 per cent).
