Amidst outcry over low performance on the just concluded Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), candidates have added their voices to that of parents, individuals and stakeholders while expressing optimism to be among the best.

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) released the detailed performance report of the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) on Monday revealing that more than 1.5 million candidates out of 2,030,627 million candidates who sat for the examination scored below the 200 minimum admissible marks for university admissions in Nigeria.

This has continued to generate reactions from different quarters because most universities and courses require a score of 200 and above for students to gain admission despite the admissible cutoff mark pegged at 140.

Causes of low outcome

Some candidates who spoke to Daily Trust have attributed the low performance to inadequate preparation and inability of some of them to manage time well.

A candidate, Iyke-ani Chinwendum, told Daily Trust that the examination was not necessarily difficult because it mainly tests what they have already been taught in school.

She said the reason for poor performance is because most people did not prepare or read well and underestimated the exam.

“Some people were not familiar with time management, causing them to leave some questions unanswered. Since JAMB is a computer based test, those not familiar with computers may have struggled,” she said.

Chinwendum, however, said, “I’m expecting a good score. I know I tried my best. So, I’m just hoping and praying the result comes out well.”

Another candidate, Ibitomihi Bukola said the UTME was a bit challenging as some of the questions required deep thinking while still keeping in mind the pressure of having to work fast.

She said: “With my diligent preparation, I was able to attempt all the questions.”

On low performance by candidates, she said the general reason for poor performance is the lack of preparation of the candidates and the inability to operate the system correctly by most candidates

“I am expecting a really good score, due to my preparation and by the grace of God, I will achieve it,” Bukola added.

In parts of metropolitan Kano, some candidates commended the coordination of the exercise compared to previous years.

System glitches, time management as additional factors for low mark

However, some raised concerns over system glitches, time management, and the framing of certain exam questions, which they believe contribute to low performance this year.

Seventeen-year-old Amina Musa, who sat for her examination at a centre in the city, described her experience as largely positive.

“The process was smooth compared to what I heard from previous years. I had my exam at 8:00 a.m., and we were allowed in early. The computer system worked well, though I was a bit nervous at first. My only issue was that the mouse was not working properly, and I had to rely on the keyboard, which slowed me down. But overall, I’m hopeful I’ll score high,” she said.

Ifeanyi Okoro, 19, from the Sabon Gari area of Fagge Local Government, echoed similar sentiments on organisation but pointed to infrastructural deficiencies.

“The invigilators in my centre were professional, and the biometric verification was fast. However, there were network issues, and we started almost an hour late. Some students panicked, but the officials managed the situation. I think JAMB should invest more in backup systems to avoid delays,” he said.

For some candidates, the issues went beyond technical challenges. Fatima Abdulrahman, 18, who is taking the UTME for the second time, expressed concern about question clarity and time constraints.

“This was my second attempt, and honestly, I felt more confident this time. The CBT system was stable, and we had no power outage during the exam. But I noticed that some of the questions in Use of English were poorly framed. Also, the time was not enough for Mathematics. I hope JAMB considers student feedback next time,” she said.

Some candidates believe that the pressure of time, coupled with poorly structured questions, could contribute to lower performance in this year’s exam. Others noted that late start at some centres further added to the stress, particularly for first-time candidates.

Despite the mixed reactions, all three candidates agreed that the CBT model remains a progressive step in Nigeria’s educational assessment system. Their call, however, is for JAMB to continually improve technical infrastructure, refine question quality, and provide ample preparation support for candidates in future editions.

Some candidates who sat for the examination in Lagos highlighted unclear computer screens, hanging mouse and delays as part of the challenges they faced inside the exam hall.

Lucky Onipe said he had to straighten his eyes in an effort to see the words on his computer screen clearly, saying the screen brightness was clouded with pink colour.

“The issue that I had was the colour of the screen. It was not clear. My own screen was showing a pink colour, so I had to look into the screen before I could see some writing and do some calculations,” he said.

He, however, said the centre at Sabo, Yaba was easy to locate.

“The experience I had. The location was easy for me to know the place. The invigilators were okay. The hall where I wrote my exam was conducive. There was an air conditioner, so the atmosphere was cool,” he said.

“For the examination, the questions were okay, but I won’t lie, some parts were difficult, but it was okay,” he said.

He, however, said though he is yet to see his result, he is looking forward to checking his result.

Damilola Ibitoye expressed dismay over how limited the hall was to accommodate the candidates, saying they had to manage themselves inside.

She added that at some point her computer mouse was malfunctioning, saying her exam began almost one hour 30 minutes after the scheduled time.

“There was no space for us to sit comfortably, so we had to manage ourselves. Also, my mouse was hanging, it would just stop moving at one point,” she said.

“There was a delay of about 30 minutes to one hour because I was told to get to the exam hall by 2pm but we started almost at 3:30pm,” she said.

A candidate who pleaded anonymity said the delay was deliberate to wait for others who came late to the exam hall.

“They were trying to be considerate enough for those coming from far away so they would be able to meet up on time. Like, instead of us starting by 2pm, and those coming from far away should be coming around like 2:30pm and not be able to write the exam.”

“So, they were like we should wait for an extra 30 minutes to 1 hour for those coming from far,” she said.

She said she did not encounter any challenges while writing her exams.

“There was no problem, no issues at all. And I even finished before the end of the exam to show you how free everything was,” she said.

Meanwhile, the breakdown of the results statistics released on Monday by the board showed that of the 1,955,069 results released, only 420,415 candidates attained scores above 200, while just 12,414 candidates, equivalent to 0.63% of total participants, scored 300 and above, placing them among the highest achievers in this year’s exam.

The breakdown shows that 983,187 (50.29%) scored 160 -199, while 488,197 (24.97%) scored 140 – 159.

At the lowest point is 57,419 (2.94%) candidates who scored 120 – 139 while 3,820 (0.20%) candidates scored 100 – 119 and 2,031 (0.10%) scored below 100.

But JAMB has announced that they will officially release the results today (Friday).

Meanwhile, the Registrar of JAMB, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, has clarified that the performance statistics for the 2025 UTME are in line with results recorded over the past 12 years.

Addressing public concerns about this year’s outcome, Oloyede explained that the results were not unusual.

In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Abuja, he noted that out of the 1.9 million candidates who sat for the UTME, approximately 1.5 million scored below 200.

He emphasised, however, that such results are not unusual and align with historical patterns.

“This is not peculiar to this year. The performance statistics are consistent with those of the last 12 years,” he said.

Commenting on the delay in releasing individual results, the JAMB Registrar explained that the delay was due to an ongoing review process for certain candidates.

“We have not released the individual results yet, but we have published the overall statistics because that part of the process has been completed.

“We are currently reviewing the cases of some candidates with borderline issues. We need to determine whether their results should be released or withheld.

“Once that is concluded, likely by tomorrow, we will release the individual results”. (Weekend Trust)