JAMB to release rescheduled UTME results for 379,000 candidates on Wednesday
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has announced that it will release the results of 379,000 candidates who sat for the rescheduled Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) on Wednesday.
These exams were held between Friday and Monday after the board admitted to technical and human errors that affected candidates, especially in Lagos and South-East states.
The resit followed widespread concern over mass failure in the original UTME, where over 1.5 million of the 1.9 million candidates scored below 200 marks out of a possible 400.
JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, had publicly accepted responsibility for the glitches and became emotional during the announcement of the resit.
He described the issue as “sabotage” and said affected candidates began receiving notifications last Thursday.
JAMB’s spokesperson, Dr. Fabian Benjamin, confirmed to The PUNCH on Monday that the resit results would be released on Wednesday.
According to Oloyede, 206,610 candidates in 65 centres across Lagos and 173,387 in 92 centres across the South-East were impacted.
Data from the original UTME revealed low performance across the board:
Only 4,756 candidates (0.24%) scored 320 and above.
7,658 (0.39%) scored between 300–319.
73,441 (3.76%) scored between 250–299.
334,560 (17.11%) scored between 200–249.
983,187 (50.29%) scored between 160–199.
488,197 (24.97%) scored between 140–159.
The rest scored below 140, with 2,031 scoring under 100.
Over 75% of candidates scored below 200, fueling national debate over the exam’s credibility.
In response, the South-East Caucus in the House of Representatives has called for Prof. Oloyede’s immediate resignation.
In a statement signed by Rep. Iduma Igariwey (PDP, Ebonyi), the lawmakers criticized JAMB’s handling of the UTME, citing poor communication and inadequate notice for the rescheduled exam, which clashed with ongoing WAEC exams.
They labeled the process a “catastrophic institutional failure” and urged JAMB to cancel the 2025 UTME entirely.
The caucus recommended organizing a fresh examination after WAEC and NECO exams conclude and demanded the suspension of officials responsible for the flawed digital operations.
“While we acknowledge Prof. Oloyede’s openness, the measures taken so far fall drastically short,” the statement read.
“Students were given less than 48 hours’ notice, resulting in low turnout and clashes with other key exams, which added unnecessary stress to already burdened candidates.”