JAMB to Reschedule UTME for 379,997 Candidates in South East and Lagos
Nearly 380,000 candidates who sat for the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) in Lagos and the South East will have to retake the exam due to what the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has described as a “sabotage.”
At a press briefing in Abuja on Wednesday, JAMB Registrar Prof. Ishaq Oloyede announced that 206,610 candidates in 65 centers across Lagos and 173,387 candidates in 92 centers across the South East were affected.
He confirmed that affected students would begin receiving text messages from Thursday notifying them of their rescheduled exam dates.
“I apologize, I take full responsibility,” Oloyede said, acknowledging the scale and impact of the disruption.
This announcement comes amid growing concern about the overall performance in the 2025 UTME. Out of the nearly 1.96 million candidates whose results were processed, over 1.5 million scored below 200 out of a total 400 marks.
In fact, only 0.63% of candidates (12,414 students) scored 300 and above, with just 0.24% (4,756 candidates) reaching the top-tier range of 320 and above.
A deeper look at the score distribution paints a worrying picture:
- 17.1% of candidates scored between 200 and 249
- 50.3% scored between 160 and 199, considered the minimum threshold for admission in many institutions
- 25% scored between 140 and 159
- Less than 1% scored below 120
The results have sparked concern across the education sector about declining academic performance, preparedness for tertiary education, and systemic issues in the examination process.
With such a high percentage of students scoring below average and nearly 400,000 now facing the stress of rescheduling, the 2025 UTME has raised serious questions about equity, access, and quality in Nigeria’s education system.
JAMB’s swift action to address the affected candidates is commendable, but broader reforms may be needed to restore confidence in one of Nigeria’s most critical gateways to higher education.
