The release of this year’s Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, results has continued to raise ripples over the alleged mass failure of 70 per cent of its candidates, who scored below 200.
While candidates and parents lamented that the examination body was responsible for the mass failure due to hitches from the computer, irregularities in questions, time and far distances candidates were posted, among other complaints, JAMB, on the other hand, said this year’s results were reflections of students’ performance.
Complaints
“My name is Iwuoha Chiamaka, and I was a candidate for the 2025 UTME examination. I started studying for this exam last year. I attended tutorial classes daily and read at night using various study materials like past questions, handouts, textbooks, notebooks, and online resources. I also practised CBT to familiarise myself with the exam format.
“On my exam day, Friday, April 25, I arrived at the centre around 6:15 am. The thumb-printing process started at 7:15 am, and we were seated in the hall by 8 a.m. Although the exam didn’t start immediately, I rested and prayed. It began around 9 a.m. and went smoothly for me.
“However, other candidates faced computer issues, which affected their time. Thankfully, my exam proceeded without issues.
“After the exam, I felt confident about my performance, but upon seeing my score (165), I was surprised. I’m convinced that this score doesn’t accurately reflect my abilities because last year I didn’t even study this hard, and I got 220.”
Another candidate, who gave her name as Miriam, had this to say: “I did not expect to get 195 because I know I did well in most of my four subjects. If anyone is to blame for our failure is JAMB. This is because what was printed on our card as the time to commence was not followed.
“Imagine being at your centre at 5:30 a.m, for an examination scheduled for 6:30 a.m., only for the exam to start at 8:10a.m. This made us so tense that day, especially candidates like me who were writing the results for the first time.”
Parent’s pain
For a parent, Mrs Chigozie Onyearugbulam, a member of Concerned Parents & Educators Network, an online education platform, complained bitterly over the poor conduct of this year’s JAMB.
“Some very brilliant people had system errors and had very low scores. My daughter is in tears. Her system was changing her answers. She complained, nothing was done.”
JAMB proposes remedial measures
Following the agitations from various quarters over the conduct and the eventual release of the 2025 Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board examination results, the body has hinted at a possible review of the process.
In a statement by its spokesperson, Fabian Benjamin, and as reported by various media, the board noted that it was fast forwarding its annual system review, a comprehensive post-mortem of the examination process, as a result of the ‘significant volume of unusual complaints’ that followed the release of the 2025 UTME results on Friday.
“If it is determined that there were indeed glitches, we will implement appropriate remedial measures promptly, as we do in the case of the examinations themselves,” the board said.
The board said it is particularly concerned about the unusual complaints from a few states within the federation.
According to the statement, the board is scrutinising these complaints in detail to identify and rectify potential technical issues.
JAMB said the annual review encompasses three key stages: registration, examination, and result release.
It explained that during the examination, JAMB ensures that every candidate is allowed to sit the test, and should any technical issues arise, the board reschedules the examination for affected candidates.
