2025 JAMB: 75% of candidates scored below the 200 benchmark
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has revealed a worrying performance trend in the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), with more than 1.5 million candidates scoring below 200 out of the 1.9 million who sat the exam.
According to official data released on Monday, only 420,415 candidates scored above 200 — roughly 21% of all test-takers. The top scores were rare: just 4,756 candidates crossed the 320 mark, while 7,658 scored between 300 and 319.
This means nearly 75% of candidates scored below the 200 benchmark, and less than 1% managed to score above 300 — raising concerns about the state of secondary education and exam preparedness in Nigeria.
The board also revealed that 40,247 underage candidates were allowed to participate under a special exemption to test for exceptional abilities. However, only 467 of them (1.16%) met the set benchmark.
In terms of integrity, JAMB reported that 97 candidates were caught in examination malpractice, while 2,157 others are currently under investigation. A total of 71,701 registered candidates were absent.
Candidates with unresolved biometric issues are also under review, and those cleared will be rescheduled for the exam. Meanwhile, the results of blind candidates and others under the JEOG special category are still being processed.
JAMB noted that individual results and the procedure for checking scores will be made public during a press briefing later this week.
