The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has announced that it will release the results of 379,000 candidates who participated in the rescheduled Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) on Wednesday. This makeup exam was conducted between Friday and Monday, following a series of technical and human errors that disrupted the initial UTME and negatively impacted many candidates, particularly those in Lagos and the South-East.
The resit became necessary after JAMB acknowledged widespread issues during the original UTME, with the board admitting that system failures and human lapses compromised the integrity of the examination process. Speaking earlier, JAMB Registrar, Professor Ishaq Oloyede, accepted full responsibility for the situation, even breaking down in tears while announcing the board’s decision to conduct a supplementary exam for the affected students.
In total, 379,997 candidates were identified for the resit, including 206,610 from 65 centers in Lagos and 173,387 from 92 centers in the South-East. JAMB described the issues as an act of “sabotage” and confirmed that affected candidates received SMS notifications starting last Thursday.
JAMB’s spokesperson, Dr. Fabian Benjamin, confirmed on Monday that the results from the rescheduled UTME will be officially released on Wednesday, bringing some closure to the candidates who endured the disruptions.
Concerns over the credibility of the UTME were heightened after more than 1.5 million of the 1,955,069 candidates who sat for the original exam scored below 200 marks out of a possible 400. The dismal performance sparked public debate about the fairness and reliability of the testing system.
Out of nearly two million processed results, only 4,756 candidates (0.24%) scored 320 and above, while 7,658 candidates (0.39%) scored between 300 and 319. This means just 12,414 candidates (0.63%) scored above 300. In addition, 73,441 candidates (3.76%) scored between 250 and 299; 334,560 (17.11%) scored between 200 and 249; 983,187 (50.29%) fell between 160 and 199; and 488,197 (24.97%) scored between 140 and 159. The remaining scores were lower, with 57,419 candidates (2.94%) scoring between 120 and 139, 3,820 (0.20%) between 100 and 119, and 2,031 (0.10%) scoring below 100.
