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The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has announced that the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) has recorded the best performance levels since the adoption of the Computer-Based Test (CBT) system in 2013.
Despite initial challenges, including technical disruptions and widespread complaints from candidates which prompted a resit examination, the recently released data shows a notable improvement in results.
According to JAMB, 17,025 candidates — equivalent to 0.88% of all participants — scored 300 and above in the 2025 UTME. This marks the highest proportion of high scorers in over a decade. By comparison, only 8,401 (0.46%) reached the same benchmark in 2024, while just 5,318 (0.35%) did so in 2023.
Performance at other score brackets also saw significant gains this year. A total of 117,373 candidates, or 6.08%, scored 250 and above — up from 77,070 (4.18%) in 2024 and 56,736 (3.73%) in 2023. Additionally, 565,988 candidates (29.3%) scored 200 and above, compared to 439,961 (24%) in 2024 and 355,689 (23.36%) in 2023.
These statistics emerged amid ongoing concerns about examination malpractice during the 2025 UTME. JAMB disclosed that sophisticated methods were employed to cheat, including cyber attacks on CBT centres’ networks.
The board alleged that some school and CBT centre owners collaborated to hack local servers, allowing them to control exam systems remotely and submit answers on behalf of candidates. It also exposed the use of artificial intelligence-driven impersonation tactics, such as photo-blending technology to bypass biometric verification.
JAMB reported that some fraudulent candidates had their fingerprints registered alongside those of others during enrolment, enabling impersonation during the exam. In some cases, Local Area Networks (LANs) were illegally extended to off-site locations where exam answers were generated and transmitted.
Another method highlighted by the board involved the intentional rearrangement of candidates to seat them with hired “mercenaries” — often current undergraduates — who had registered for the exam solely to access the test environment and aid others.
As a result of these findings, JAMB has cancelled the results of more than 3,000 candidates found to have engaged in malpractice.
The board expressed particular concern over the growing role of university students in these fraud schemes, warning that their involvement poses a significant threat to the credibility of the examination system.
Public outrage over the 2025 UTME also stemmed from widespread technical errors that affected thousands of candidates. JAMB confirmed that a significant number of candidates had been impacted by missing or faulty exam content in certain operational zones due to “an omission in the examination items”.
Lagos recorded the most severe disruptions, with 206,610 candidates affected across 65 centres. Similarly, 173,387 candidates in the Owerri zone, covering parts of the South-East, also experienced major technical faults at 92 centres.
Following these irregularities, JAMB organised a resit examination for the affected candidates to ensure fairness.
