Thousands of candidates who took part in the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) are preparing to take legal action against the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), citing widespread technical issues and incomplete exam questions that they claim undermined the integrity of the test.
JAMB reported that over 1.5 million of the 1.9 million candidates—approximately 79 per cent—scored below 200.
Further analysis of the results showed that only 12,414 candidates scored 300 and above, accounting for less than one per cent of the total.
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The results have sparked nationwide concern, with affected candidates and their families flooding social media with calls for a review of the scores.
Despite the backlash, JAMB spokesperson Fabian Benjamin insisted that the results were an accurate reflection of candidates’ performance. Meanwhile, the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, attributed the sharp decline in scores to the board’s improved efforts in curbing exam malpractice.
Prominent education advocate and CEO of Educare, Alex Onyia, announced on Sunday that legal action against JAMB would begin on Monday at the Federal High Court.
Onyia revealed that more than 8,000 affected candidates had filed formal complaints, demanding that JAMB release detailed marking breakdowns and grant students access to verify their individual scores.
“Currently, we have 8,391 students who have sent in their complaints regarding the glitches in the JAMB 2025 exam,” Onyia posted on his X (formerly Twitter) page, @winexv. “There is ample evidence to prove that JAMB’s system was inefficient, thereby causing serious harm to these students’ mental health,” he said.
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The demand is for JAMB to show all the students their mark sheets to view their results—what they failed, the correct answers, and a seamless way to dispute it. The destinies of these students are at stake.
A candidate who took the exam at a CBT centre in Maitama, Abuja, told The Punch, “During the examination, for my Use of English, I noticed that some of my questions were missing. I raised the alarm, and I wasn’t the only one with the issue. When my result came out, I scored 170. JAMB has not addressed the missing questions.“
Another candidate, who sat for the exam on April 26, said she was stunned by her score.
Last year I scored 287, this year I got 173. Many others who wrote on the same day complained that their English questions were incomplete. This result is not mine.
A concerned parent also urged a review of the results, stating:
We demand a remark from JAMB. These are exceptional students scoring below 200. Many complained of incomplete questions and other technical issues. JAMB has said nothing. This cannot be swept under the rug.
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