UTME 2025: Students Report Drastically Low Scores Compared to 2024, Demand JAMB Review Over Possible Technical Glitches

The release of the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) results by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has sparked nationwide outrage over alleged technical failures that may have affected candidate performance.

On Monday, JAMB announced that over 1.5 million of the 2,030,627 candidates who sat for the exam scored below 200. This is well under the minimum mark commonly required by many Nigerian universities.

Since the announcement, social media platforms have received complaints from candidates and parents who believe something went wrong. Many say their results are unexplainably low and do not reflect the level of preparation compared to their previous academic performance.

Oluwaseun, a teacher, said on X: “Something is seriously wrong with the recently released UTME results. These scores do not reflect the abilities, efforts, or track record of our students. Egbaze Victoria scored 295 in last year’s UTME, and now she’s being told she scored 132? And many others”.

Another user shared a similar case: “My daughter scored 260 last year. Now JAMB says she scored 166. She’s been crying. She knows what she wrote.”

Several cases involve students with strong academic records and high performance in mock exams or previous UTME sittings, now receiving below-average scores. One user posted about a candidate with 7 As in IGCSE and a score of 259 in last year’s UTME who allegedly scored 159 this year. Another reported a drop from a 323 mock score to 146 in the main exam.

My sister is brilliant. Her record speaks for itself. This drop is impossible unless something went wrong,” one complaint read.

Many of the grievances point to a pattern. Candidates who took the exam on Saturday, April 26, have reported technical issues such as login delays, freezing systems, and question-loading errors during the test. Some believe these disruptions may have affected the outcome.

The result I saw this morning can’t be mine,” a candidate wrote. “I got 269 last year. I studied harder this year. How did I score 147?”

The uproar had previously drawn the attention of education stakeholders. The Congress of University Academics (CONUA) described the results as disturbing and called for urgent reforms. In a statement, CONUA President, Dr Niyi Sunmonu, said the outcome highlights structural issues in Nigeria’s education sector and raises concerns about the credibility of the UTME process.

The performance index shows a deeply rooted crisis. The limited number of high scorers and overwhelming concentration in the lower brackets reflect serious issues in curriculum delivery, student preparedness, teacher quality, and mastery of computer-based testing,” he said.

Sunmonu added that while student performance is a concern, the volume and consistency of complaints suggest possible technical faults in the exam system. Some parents and students are now calling on JAMB to launch a formal investigation and audit of the exam process.

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