The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has ordered an immediate review of the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) following a wave of public complaints alleging technical glitches, incomplete questions, and unusually low scores.
The Board, 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.”
Candidates Threaten Legal Action
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.
The controversy reached a boiling point after JAMB revealed in its viral statistical data that over 1.5 million out of the 1.9 million candidates who sat for this year’s UTME scored below 200 out of a possible 400 marks.
This statistic triggered national concern and social media uproar.
The hashtag #ThisIsNotMyResult has been trending across platforms, with candidates and parents expressing shock over the low scores.
Minister, Registrar Reacts
Meanwhile, speaking on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief last week, the Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, attributed the mass failure to the efficacy of JAMB’s anti-malpractice technology.
He defended the results, stating that the board’s computer-based testing system “had made cheating nearly impossible” and should be extended to other national examinations such as WAEC and NECO.
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.
Despite the registrar’s defence, pressure continues to mount on the board, with widespread calls for transparency and fairness in the marking and result collation processes.
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