JAMB, govt, stakeholders trade blames over mass failure of UTME exam

General public disbelief and outrage have trailed the recent release of JAMB results, which recorded massive poor performance by candidates. The examination had attracted widespread criticism of the regulatory body over the inconvenient timing of the exam.

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, which   last  Monday released the results of the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, heightening concerns about mass failure as more than 1.5 million out of 1.9 million candidates whose results were released scored below 200, a less than average score.

For a record,  UTME is graded over 400, with each candidate assessed in four subjects scored over 100 marks each.

A breakdown of the released results revealed that 983,187 candidates (50.29%) scored between 160 and 199, while 488,197 candidates (24.97%) scored between 140 and 159.

In addition, 57,419 candidates (2.94%) scored between 120 and 139. Overall, about 77 percent score below 200.

In sharp contrast, high scorers were significantly fewer. Only 4,756 candidates (0.24%) scored 320 and above, while 7,658 candidates (0.39%) scored between 300 and 319. This brings the total number of candidates who scored 300 and above to 12,414 (0.63%).

A further 73,441 candidates (3.76%) scored between 250 and 299, and 334,560 candidates (17.11%) scored between 200 and 249, the range typically regarded as competitive for many university admissions.

The Board also  noted that  of the 40,247 underage candidates who took the exam, only 467 (1.16%) performed well enough to be classified under the “exceptional ability” category.

According to the board, 97 candidates were caught engaging in examination infractions, while 2,157 others are currently under investigation for alleged malpractice.

Absenteeism was also notable in this year’s examination, with 71,701 registered candidates failing to show up.

Public Outrage

Since the announcement of the dismal performance, government, parents and other stakeholders, including the examination body itself have voiced concerns, trading blames over the abysmal results.

Reacting to the results, popular medical commentator @OurFavOnlineDoc lampooned  both JAMB and the government. He also raised concerns  with the exam’s schedule period and timing.

He stated , “Over 75% of the students who took this exam failed it. This is a shame on JAMB, this is a huge shame on the govt. You cannot set an exam for 6:30am in the morning, which is an incredibly unsafe and dangerous time, then express shock when these kids fail.”

An education and career advocate, Dipo Awojide, has a different opinion; he  blamed  the decline in performance on lifestyle choices and poor attitudes toward education.

He further  pointed accusing fingers at the influence of older youth, who preach the “school na scam” ideology.

Professor Hope Eghagha, last week at the Nigeria International Book Fair 2025, toed similar line, blaming the decline in standard on misconception of shortcut to wealth as seen in ‘Yahoo’ culture and ‘ education na scam’ jingo, pervasive among Nigerian youth

Awojide said,  “Seventy-five per cent of the candidates scored below 200 in JAMB examination. Not surprised. A generation that spends more than half their time on TikTok will never be able to score above 50% in any examination. Further fuelled by “school na scam” comments from dumb seniors. And loss of family values – hard work, dedication, and commitment to a better life. School no be scam. Sadly, it might be too late by the time many find out.”

Similarly, another X user with the handle, @UgwunnaEjikem, pointed to a disturbing shift in youth priorities,”

He  said  “JAMB scores are declining year after year. Young people are more interested in gangsterism, drugs and fraud than they are in education or even learning a skill. There is fire on the mountain.”

Another X user @Sportify wrote, “Mass failure for 1.5m students and hypocrites are already yapping on how GenZ don’t value academics. But let’s be realistic here, Nigeria is in a lot of economic mess and unbearable hardship for the masses. So, who do we blame? GenZ or Older generations?”

@Abimbola, on her part, stated that most of the kids were not academically capable, citing their role models.

“Asides the flaw on JAMB’s part, most of these kids are not academically capable. They have entertainers as role models, the yearning for academic success has reduced to a worrisome degree. They’re a reflection of what our society has turned to.”

LightSkinMania wrote, “If you look at the condition of the average Nigerian school and the living standard of the average Nigerian teacher you’d be surprised that the JAMB failure rate isn’t like 90%. We can only keep up the facade of a functioning education system for so long.”

Trading Blames

Some parents in Lagos last Wednesday voiced  disappointment and concerns over the low performance of candidates in the recently-concluded 2025 UTME.

Some parents, who spoke with Business Hallmark noted  that the low performance could be attributed to a number of factors.

A parent, Mr Adebanjo Oladoge Oluwajuwon,  in a chat  with this medium said the abysmal  performance was due  to lack of reading culture amongst the candidates.

“I will not be among those that want to blame JAMB. Is it the examination body that will write exam for candidates? Let us face our demon!  Students’ participation in academic matters is very abysmal  with many preferring social media and other distractions over reading and learning.

“We parents need to really sit up  and pay attention to our kids. We need to make sure they follow moral standards and ensure they study hard.”

Another parent, Dr.  Abosede Anjorin, a medical personnel, attributed the low performance to declining quality of education, blaming government for not doing enough. “These politicians, who are now policy makers, are not interested in turning around the education sector because their children are abroad attending good schools. Our problems are our politicians. During military era it was not this bad.

Anjorin said  that the quality of education had been  declining due to the current economic situation, making it difficult for students to access textbooks and other educational resources, in addition to the apathy of government.

To Mrs. Ada Nwite,  a trader, the low performance of the candidates  is not far from the phenomenon of  unqualified teachers.

“A significant number of teachers in Nigeria’s education system are not qualified to teach. Schools need to employ qualified teachers to enable these children have a sound education that they deserve to merit any position they find themselves in life,” she said.

An educationist, Mrs. Adetoro Bello, attributed the low performance to media influence.

“The widespread use of social media among students is worrisome and this, for me, has distracted them from their studies, leading to a low performance in their examinations.

Another parent, Mr. Olufisayo Anthony, called on the management of JAMB to improve its performance, while attributing the poor performance of the candidates to technical issues.

Anthony said that some candidates had complained about the technical glitch they experienced while writing the exam.

“This might have affected their performance. JAMB needs to improve on their performance and ensure that these technical glitches become a thing of the past,” he said.

Varsities React

The Congress of University Academics (CONUA), another body of academics in Nigerian universities, described the poor results as a wake-up call on the state of Nigeria’s education system.

The President of CONUA, Dr. Niyi Sunmonu, said the performance index reveals a deep-rooted crisis in our educational system, noting that the limited number of high performers and the overwhelming concentration of candidates in the lower score brackets, indicate widespread issues in a number of deliverables, such as curriculum delivery, learning environment, teacher quality, equitable access to quality education, and mastery of CBT procedures by students.

“The data presents to all of us a sobering reflection of the state of our nation’s basic and secondary education system.”

Official Reason

Meanwhile, the  Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, has attributed the poor performance in the 2025 UTME to the Federal Government’s heightened battle against examination malpractice.

According to the minister, JAMB has become a model for transparent examinations, owing to its strict computer-based testing (CBT) system that has virtually eliminated cheating.

In an interview on a national television last week, Dr. Alausa clarified that the 2025 UTME mass failure recorded is not due to a decline in student intelligence, but, rather, a sign that the integrity of the examination system has been restored.

“This is not about the students being unintelligent. It’s a reflection of exams now being done the proper way,” Alausa stated.

“JAMB conducts its exam using CBT and has built a fortress of security around the process. Fraud or cheating has been almost completely wiped out. Unfortunately, we can’t say the same about WAEC and NECO yet.”

Alausa  said that efforts are underway to extend the JAMB-style anti-cheating measures to other national examination bodies. Beginning from November, WAEC and NECO will be migrating to CBT, with full adoption expected by 2027 across all major exam bodies, including EMBRAS and NBTEB.

“The solution is technology. From November this year, WAEC and NECO will begin using computer-based tests. We must dismantle this culture of malpractice from the roots,” the minister said.

He condemned the pervasive exam fraud in secondary schools, blaming it for cultivating a generation of students who are rewarded for dishonesty while hard-working candidates are sidelined.

“Students cheat their way through WAEC and NECO and then crash during JAMB because there’s no room for malpractice. That’s the result we’re seeing now,” he said.

“Exceptional Ability” Candidates

Meanwhile, the Online JAMB Class Academy also weighed in with additional data from JAMB, revealing that out of 40,247 underage candidates who sat for the exam under a special “exceptional ability” provision, only 467 (1.16%) scored high enough to meet the benchmark for that category.

This discounts the belief that underage but exceptional candidates should be allowed to enter university before age 18, as proposed by JAMB earlier, as only 1.2% of the 40247, who registered for the exam, scored over 250.

Reacting, former governor of Anambra State and Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate in the 2023 general election, Mr. Peter Obi, expressed deep concern and described the situation as a reflection of Nigeria’s deteriorating education system.

In a statement released via his verified social media handle, Mr. Obi attributed the poor performance to long-standing neglect and underinvestment in the education sector, stressing that education must be repositioned as a cornerstone of national development.

“The latest JAMB results once again highlight the consequences of decades of underinvestment in education, a sector that should be central to our national development strategy.”