The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has officially confirmed that 379,997 candidates were affected by technical glitches during the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), primarily impacting students in Lagos and the five South Eastern states.

JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, made this revelation during a press briefing in Abuja on Wednesday. According to Oloyede, "A total of 206,610 candidates across 65 centres in Lagos were affected, while in the Owerri zone, which includes the five South East states, 173,387 candidates across 92 centres faced the glitches."

The UTME, which serves as a crucial gateway for admission into Nigerian tertiary institutions, evaluates candidates in four subjects. These include the mandatory Use of English and three additional subjects relevant to the candidate's intended field of study.

Breakdown of 2025 UTME Results

The JAMB Registrar also provided a comprehensive breakdown of the 2025 UTME results:

- 73,441 candidates (3.76%) scored between 250 and 299 points

- 334,560 candidates (17.11%) scored between 200 and 249 points

- 983,187 candidates (50.29%) scored between 160 and 199 points, which typically meets the minimum threshold for admission in many Nigerian institutions

- 488,197 candidates (24.97%) scored between 140 and 159 points

- 57,419 candidates (2.94%) scored between 120 and 139 points

- 3,820 candidates (0.20%) scored between 100 and 119 points

- 2,031 candidates (0.10%) scored below 100 points

The announcement comes amid growing concerns from candidates and parents about the integrity of the examination process. Reports suggest that the affected candidates will likely be given an opportunity to rewrite the examination, though specific details on remediation plans have not yet been fully disclosed.

This development marks a significant challenge for JAMB, which has been working to digitize and streamline the examination process in recent years. The board has previously faced criticism for technical issues during examinations, though this year's glitches appear to have affected a larger number of candidates than in previous cycles.

Stakeholders in the education sector are now awaiting further announcements from JAMB regarding how the situation will be resolved to ensure fairness for all candidates in the university admission process.