BREAKING: JAMB Admits Errors in 2025 UTME

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has admitted to errors that adversely affected the performance of candidates in the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).

The Board’s Registrar, Professor Ishaq Oloyede, made the disclosure during a press conference on Wednesday in Abuja.

A visibly teary Oloyede apologised to candidates and their families, saying the board regrets the trauma caused. He admitted that lapses attributed to staff negligence, had impacted the integrity of the examination in several centres.

Out of the 1.9 million candidates who sat for the exam nationwide, over 1.5 million scored below 200 out of a total of 400 marks. The outcome has triggered widespread concern among parents, education stakeholders, and the general public, with many questioning the credibility of the testing process.

“I take full responsibility for the errors,” Oloyede said, stressing that JAMB would ensure that affected candidates are not unjustly penalised.

“Today marks a moment we shall not soon forget. A day that should have been filled with celebration for what was, until recently, regarded as our most successful UTME exercise. Regrettably, this joy has been overshadowed by an easily avoidable error by one or two persons,” Oloyede said.

Speaking further, Oloyede noted that, “In simple terms, while 65 centres (206,610 candidates) were affected in Lagos zone (comprising only Lagos state), 92 centres (173,387 candidates) were affected in Owerri zone, which includes the South East states. 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. Regrettably, this oversight went undetected prior to the release of the results.”

This is not the first time the board has faced scrutiny over its processes, but the scale of this year’s poor performance has renewed calls for reform within the examination body.