JAMB: Nearly 40,000 Results Withheld, 78% Score Below 200

In a major update on the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has released the results of over 1.9 million candidates, while withholding 39,834 for various reasons, including malpractice and ongoing investigations.

The announcement, made on Friday, revealed that 2,030,862 candidates registered for the nationwide exam, which was conducted across 882 Computer-Based Test (CBT) centres. Of these, 1,957,000 were accredited to sit for the test, while 71,705 were marked absent. Notably, biometric machines rejected 2,157 candidates due to invalid fingerprints.

JAMB confirmed that as of May 9, results for 1,911,551 candidates had been released. However, 1,426 are still being processed, and 96 were officially withheld for exam malpractice—slightly fewer than the 123 withheld in 2024. The remaining results are still under investigation.

The board also shared updates on its special program for exceptionally gifted but underage candidates. A total of 41,027 students registered under this initiative, and 40,260 participated in the examination. Despite the high registration number, only 467 underage candidates met the minimum required UTME score. These high achievers have been notified of their results, while others have received official communication regarding their performance.

JAMB reaffirmed its stance on the minimum entry age into tertiary institutions, maintaining the 16-year threshold. Although stakeholders had proposed raising the age to 18 starting in 2025, Education Minister Tunji Alausa opted to suspend the implementation of that change.

In a preliminary analysis of the overall performance, JAMB revealed a concerning statistic: 78.49% of candidates scored below 200, a stark indicator of the academic challenges many students face.

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Candidates who wish to check their results can do so by sending “UTMERESULT” via SMS to 55019 or 66019 using the same phone number used during registration.

JAMB emphasised that even gifted candidates must demonstrate academic readiness through a combination of assessments, including the UTME, SSCE, Post-UTME, and a specialised test for gifted students.