No fewer than 200,000 additional candidates have surpassed the 200 average mark in the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), following a resit organised by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB). The resit was held after technical and human errors affected the initial examination results, prompting calls for a fair reassessment.
The newly released resit results indicate a significant improvement in candidate performance. JAMB reported that 1,365,479 candidates—about 70.7% of the total 1.9 million who sat for both the original and resit exams—scored below 200 marks. This marks a reduction from the over 1.5 million who initially scored below the benchmark, signaling that roughly 200,000 more candidates have now crossed the average score threshold.
The resit, which was conducted for 379,000 candidates in Lagos and the South-East, was necessitated by technical glitches and server errors that compromised the original UTME results. Following investigations, JAMB attributed the issues to faulty server updates that disrupted the proper upload of candidates’ answers during the first three days of the exam.
JAMB’s Registrar confirmed that candidates affected by the errors were required to retake the examination to ensure fairness and transparency. With the release of the updated results, JAMB emphasized that a total of 1,931,467 results were made available in 2025, representing all candidates who participated.
Comparative figures reveal a steady increase in UTME participation and improved performance in recent years. In the 250 and above category, 117,373 candidates (6.08%) achieved this score range in 2025, up from 77,070 (4.18%) in 2024 and 56,736 (3.73%) in 2023. Furthermore, 565,988 candidates (29.3%) scored 200 and above in 2025, compared to 439,961 (24%) in 2024 and 355,689 (23.36%) in 2023.
Despite these gains, the majority of candidates—1,365,479 (70.7%)—still scored below 200, though this represents a slight decrease from the 76% seen in 2024 and 76.64% in 2023. Yearly comparisons highlight fluctuations in performance, with only 168,650 candidates (13%) scoring 200 and above in 2021, and a peak of 568,847 (34%) achieving this benchmark in 2016.
JAMB noted that the improved results are partly due to continued refinements in the Computer-Based Test (CBT) system, which was introduced in 2013. The 2025 results are considered a positive sign of progress in both candidate performance and examination integrity.
The board also addressed concerns about examination irregularities, emphasizing ongoing efforts to curb malpractice among candidates, schools, and test centres. As a further measure, the results of underage candidates—except in cases involving legal proceedings—have been released, though such results do not qualify these candidates for admission.
With the updated results, the number of candidates who scored below 200 in the 2025 UTME stands at 1.3 million, while those scoring 200 and above now total 565,988.
Glide News will continue to track the implications of these results for this year’s tertiary admissions process.
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