The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has announced plans to conduct an additional mop-up examination for candidates who missed the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) held on April 24.
The announcement was made by JAMB Registrar, Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, on Wednesday in Abuja during a meeting with key stakeholders to address issues encountered during the 2025 UTME.
According to the board, the decision to conduct the mop-up exam stems from the need to accommodate the estimated 5.6% of candidates who failed to sit for the examination earlier this year.
“Normally, we hold one mop-up nationwide for those with one issue or the other. But this time, we are creating a new mop-up. Even those who missed the earlier examination due to absence, we will extend this opportunity to them.
“It is not that we are doing something extraordinary; in class, you make up an examination when students miss it for one reason or the other; we just don’t allow abuse of that. So we will allow all the candidates who missed the main examination for any reason to take part in this mop-up,” Oloyede said.
Backstory
JAMB released the statistical breakdown of the 2025 UTME results on May 5th, revealing that 71,701 candidates were absent during the exam.
According to data published by the board, out of the over 1.95 million candidates who sat for the examination, only 21.5% scored above 200.
The performance distribution revealed that 4,756 candidates scored 320 and above, 7,658 scored between 300 and 319, 73,441 scored between 250 and 299, and 334,560 scored between 200 and 249. Meanwhile, 983,187 candidates scored between 160 and 199, and 488,197 scored between 140 and 159. In total, approximately 78.5% of candidates scored 200 or below.
UTME not an intelligence test
Prof. Oloyede also addressed misconceptions around the UTME, stressing that it is a placement test, not an achievement test.
- He noted that the purpose of the examination is to rank candidates for available spaces in institutions and not to measure intelligence or overall academic potential.
- He added that while UTME scores are significant, they are not the sole determinant of admission into tertiary institutions.
According to him, a candidate’s performance in post-UTME assessments and school-based evaluations also factors into the final decision.
Criticisms and conspiracy theories dismissed
Reacting to widespread criticism following the release of UTME results, the JAMB boss rejected suggestions that the board’s challenges were due to administrative failure or ethnic bias.
“I want to say this clearly, particularly because I accepted responsibility, not because I do not know how to do the work.
“I say it for the fourth time that no conspiracy theory is relevant to this case. Something happened, like people who have been doing something well for years, and something just went wrong. That I should now throw them under the bus? No,” Oloyede said
He cautioned against exploiting temporary difficulties to promote ethnic or conspiracy-driven narratives and urged Nigerians to avoid profiling within the education sector.
Despite the technical and logistical challenges faced during the 2025 UTME, Oloyede commended the JAMB team for their commitment and acknowledged the resilience of candidates.
Many of the students, he noted, continued their examinations amid setbacks, a move he described as a testament to their determination.
