UTME Resit – Over 200,000 Candidates Score Above 200 After JAMB Resit

Following the resit of the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) organised by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), over 200,000 more candidates have now crossed the 200-mark threshold. The resit was necessitated by technical and human errors that marred the initial exams.

According to the newly released resit results, a significant number of candidates improved their scores, pushing the total number of those who scored 200 and above to 565,988 — a jump from over 1.5 million initially scoring below 200, down to 1,365,479. This suggests that around 200,000 candidates improved their performance after the resit.

The board disclosed that of the 1.9 million candidates who sat the UTME this year, 1,931,467 results were released, representing 100 per cent of the total participants — the highest number recorded since the Computer-Based Test (CBT) format was adopted in 2013.

In the 250 and above category, 117,373 candidates (6.08%) achieved this mark — a notable increase from 77,070 (4.18%) in 2024 and 56,736 (3.73%) in 2023. Also, 565,988 candidates (29.3%) scored 200 and above in 2025, compared to 439,961 (24%) in 2024 and 355,689 (23.36%) in 2023.

While JAMB hailed this improvement as a sign of increasing familiarity with the CBT system, it admitted that 70.7% of candidates still scored below 200 — a slight decrease from 76% in 2024 and 76.64% in 2023.

JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, earlier explained that a faulty server update had caused errors in candidate response uploads during the first three days of the original exam, affecting 379,997 candidates across 157 centres in Lagos and the South-East. This prompted the resit, which also included over 41,000 underage candidates whose results have now been released, although they remain ineligible for admission due to age restrictions.

JAMB further noted that the incident revealed troubling practices by some candidates and exam centre operators. Despite these setbacks, the board affirmed its commitment to refining the exam process and ensuring credible admissions.

As stakeholders await JAMB’s next steps, attention has now turned to how these updated scores will influence the 2025 tertiary admission process.