EDUCATION

JAMB Registrar Breaks Silence on UTME Score Glitches, Reveals 380,000 Results Affected

In a dramatic turn of events, the Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Professor Is-haq Oloyede, has admitted that technical errors marred the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), affecting scores of over 380,000 candidates across the country.

Addressing the press at the JAMB National Headquarters in Bwari, Abuja, on Wednesday, Prof. Oloyede revealed that the board’s internal audit confirmed anomalies in the results released on May 9. He described the situation as “a bitter truth” and a painful outcome of what had been hailed as JAMB’s most seamless UTME exercise to date.

“Everything seemed perfect. We ran simulations, deployed dummies, upgraded our systems, but despite all that, an error still occurred. It is a classic case of ‘man proposes, God disposes,’” Oloyede lamented.

According to the Registrar, the technical glitches primarily affected two zones, referred to internally by JAMB as “LAG” and “Owerri.” These zones cover Lagos and the South-East states, respectively. In total, 65 centres in Lagos (206,610 candidates) and 92 centres in the South-East (173,387 candidates) were impacted.

Oloyede explained that the issue stemmed from an update meant to fix a display error in the examination options, which went unnoticed during the initial post-exam reviews. While the update worked smoothly for sessions held from Tuesday, April 29 onward, some servers used before then were not properly patched.

“This was an avoidable mistake by our service providers,” he said. “We regret that their oversight went undetected before the results were released.”

The Registrar took full responsibility for the mishap, acknowledging the role of JAMB’s complex but rigorous quality assurance systems which, despite their depth, failed to catch the issue on time.

Highlighting JAMB’s efforts to ensure exam integrity, he noted that the agency had deployed multiple internal and external monitors, cybersecurity experts, mock examinations, and even developed its own software (JAMBTEST) for this year’s exercise. However, a faulty grading patch in the LAG system slipped through.

“We burn the midnight oil and set our standards high. But this incident reminds us we are still human,” he said.

The Registrar also addressed public outrage on social media and from civil society, noting that while criticism was valid, it stemmed from care—not apathy.

“I thank our critics. Indifference would have been worse. The noise forced us to act faster than we might have,” he said.

Top Performers Still Shine

Despite the disruption, JAMB confirmed that academic brilliance was not entirely overshadowed. The highest score recorded this year was 374, the best in over 15 years. A chart released by JAMB compared top scores between 2013 and 2025, showing that the standard of excellence remains intact.

“Our best candidates are still performing at the top level. It gives us hope, even as we correct our mistakes,” Oloyede added.

What Happens Next?

JAMB is currently reviewing all flagged results and says candidates whose scores were affected will receive updates in the coming days. Affected individuals do not need to re-register or appeal, as reprocessing is being done automatically.

The Registrar promised transparency and improvement going forward: