By David Akinmola
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has announced that the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) results represent the highest performance levels since the adoption of the Computer-Based Test (CBT) format in 2013.
According to official data, 17,025 candidates—accounting for 0.88% of the 1,931,467 who sat for the exam—scored 300 and above. This figure more than doubles the 8,401 candidates (0.46%) who achieved similar scores in 2024 and significantly surpasses the 5,318 (0.35%) recorded in 2023. Notably, in both 2013 and 2014, no candidate reached the 300 mark.
In the 250–299 score range, 117,373 candidates (6.08%) excelled, marking a substantial increase from 77,070 (4.18%) in 2024 and 56,736 (3.73%) in 2023. Additionally, 565,988 candidates (29.3%) scored between 200 and 249, reflecting a steady improvement in overall performance.
These advancements occurred despite technical challenges during the examination period. Approximately 379,000 candidates were affected by glitches in Lagos and several South-East states, prompting JAMB to organize a resit examination. Of these, 336,845 candidates participated in the rescheduled exams, while 21,082 were absent. JAMB has extended a waiver for these absent candidates to partake in a forthcoming mop-up examination.
JAMB Registrar, Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, expressed both relief and concern over the developments. In May, he publicly apologized for the technical issues that disrupted the examinations, acknowledging the impact on affected candidates.
The 2025 UTME results signify a positive trend in Nigeria’s educational assessment standards, highlighting the resilience of candidates and the commitment of educational authorities to uphold examination integrity.
