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No fewer than 5,000 candidates who scored 300 and above in the Unified Tertiary and Matriculation Examination organised by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board in five academic sessions failed to secure admission into tertiary institutions, findings by Saturday PUNCH have revealed.

According to data obtained from JAMB by our correspondent in Abuja on Friday, a total of 8.5 million candidates sat the UTME during the period under review.

Out of the figure, only about 2.7 million were admitted to higher institutions of learning, leaving about 5.8 million stranded.

The UTME is the only acceptable examination taken by individuals seeking admission into tertiary institutions in Nigeria.

Though some tertiary institutions may still schedule post-UTME for candidates seeking admission into their institutions, no individual can be admitted without a result verified by JAMB.

The examination body listed “wrong O’level subject combination, low post-UTME screening score, non-acceptance of admission offer, duplication of application, absence from post-UTME screening, and mismatch of catchment” as some of the reasons candidates, including high scorers, failed to gain admission.

Admission data

According to the data, 1,792,719 candidates sat the UTME across the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory in the 2019/2020 academic session.

Available data obtained from the policy meeting document of the following year suggested that only 612,557 candidates were admitted into higher institutions, leaving 1,180,162 without admission.

In the 2020/2021 academic session, a total of 1,949,983 candidates sat the UTME but only 551,553 admission quotas were filled according to the JAMB policy meeting document for 2021. This left 1,398,430 candidates without admission.

In the 2021/2022 academic session, a total of 1,400,000 candidates sat the examination but only 312,666 were admitted, while 1,087,333 did not secure admission.

In the 2022/2023 academic session, a total of 1,800,000 students sat the examination. However, only 557,625 admission quotas were filled according to the report released during the 2023 JAMB policy meeting held in Abuja.

The data revealed that 1,242,375 candidates failed to secure admission.

In the 2023/2024 academic session, the number of candidates who sat the exam stood at 1,635,881, while only those who got admitted stood at 639,263.

Experts seek result validity extension

Meanwhile, education experts have asked JAMB to extend the validity of its results.

The Programme Director, Reform Education Nigeria, Ayodamola Oluwatoyin, said, “I think the best thing will be for JAMB to extend the validity of the UTME. For instance, when you look at WAEC, you know that if you aren’t able to use it for admission the year you graduated, you can still use it later. Let JAMB extend the validity so that people won’t have to pay every year. The economic situation in the country isn’t smiling.”

Another educationist, Omotomiwa Daniels, said many students sat the exam annually.

“The ones not admitted get to write every year till they make it. Why not extend the validity of the UTME result from one year to maybe two or three years?” she added.

FG backs JAMB

Meanwhile, the Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, has assured Nigerians of the integrity of the Computer-Based Testing system used by JAMB, despite technical hitches experienced during the 2025 UTME.

Speaking in an interview in Lagos on Friday, Alausa reaffirmed his confidence in both the CBT system and the leadership of the JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede.

He described the disruption as a technical glitch that occurred due to shuffled questions not loading correctly in some centres, particularly in Lagos and certain southeastern states.

“What happened was not a reflection of the credibility of the CBT system or JAMB’s integrity. It was a human error by the service provider, which has now been addressed. The response was swift and transparent. JAMB assembled technical experts, conducted a forensic audit, identified the problem, and is now implementing a solution,” the minister stated.

He added that JAMB had taken pre-emptive steps before the examinations by conducting technical checks and working closely with its providers to safeguard the integrity of the process.

According to Alausa, the experience, though unfortunate, had served as an opportunity to improve examination processes.

Earlier in the week, Oloyede had openly apologised for the inconvenience caused to affected candidates and parents, adding that the examination body had traced the problem to a technical fault originating from one of its service providers.

He further disclosed that affected candidates would be rescheduled for another test.

Low turnouts

At some of the CBT centres where the rescheduled exams were held in Lagos on Friday, there was an average turnout of the students.

During the first session, Datforte International School in the Ahmadiyya area of Lagos had 212 candidates and 222 at the second session, out of the 250 expected for the resit per session.

New Ocean Comprehensive High School, also located in Ayobo, had a similar level of turnover, as just 230 students came for the first session at the centre.

It was the same at Vanilla CBT Centre in the Ayobo area of the state, as 223 candidates came for the exam during the first session, while the second session had 227.

The second CBT centre situated at Enefem International School in Ayobo also witnessed the same turnout as 216 students came for the first session and 225 for the second session.

Speaking with Saturday PUNCH, the school proprietor, Ayodele Ezekiel, attributed the turnout to the short notification given for the rescheduled exam.

“The low turnout was because some of the students were not informed early enough. Some of them didn’t even know they had an exam this (Friday) morning. On a normal day, we usually record around 246 candidates for the UTME when they are properly informed. But this time was different, and that’s why we had slightly fewer candidates than usual,” he explained.

The Director of another CBT centre in the Iyana Ipaja area of the state, who asked to remain anonymous, blamed the short notice for the low turnout.

He said, “Some of the students got the notification very late. Some received it this (Friday) morning. So, we had to use our discretion. When someone is coming for an exam, he or she is expected to come with a means of identification.

“But some students came in hurriedly, very early today, with no slips; they just showed us the notification on their phones. So, we had to allow them in. If we had followed the normal JAMB rules, we would have sent them away to find a place to print their slips. But we quickly used our discretion because we are parents too.

“I think the short notice partly caused the low turnout. For instance, a lady came in this morning, looking unkempt for the exam. She said she had just received the notice this morning and had to rush down immediately. I doubt she had even taken her bath before leaving home.

“Psychologically, for such a lady, even if she was well prepared, it may affect her performance. So, the rescheduling wasn’t properly handled. The board should have given the students at least a week after the conclusion of the ongoing WAEC, because some of them are still writing those exams.”

Students decry distance

Many parents and students who came for the exam decried the long distance they had to travel for the exam.

One of the students who missed the first session of the CBT exam at New Ocean and identified himself as Segun, told Saturday PUNCH that he received the notification on Thursday while in Abuja.

“I was in Abuja when I got their message on Thursday. So, my brother and I had to travel down to Lagos overnight by bus. As you can see, I haven’t even taken my bath; I was rushing down. But by the time I got here, I was told the session had ended. It’s a sad one,” the boy lamented.

However, the Central Administrator of the School, Mrs Akinwolere Olusola, blamed it on the late registration of some of the students.

She said, “The place of examination is determined by when and where the students registered for the exam. Some people were posted here from far away, and it was because they registered late.

“Those who registered for the exam early would be placed at centres within their jurisdiction. But when you register late, the board will have to post them to where there are available spaces.”

Parents fear poor performance

Some parents, who spoke in separate interviews with Saturday PUNCH at the CBT centres where the resit was held on Friday, decried the short notification, saying it might result in poor performance.

One of the parents, Ejeke Patricia, whose son sat the exam at Enefem International School in the Ayobo area of Lagos, said combining the UTME with the ongoing WASSCE had become burdensome for her son.

“The notice they gave us was very short. My son has been writing the WASSCE. He only got the notice for the re-sit on Thursday afternoon, shortly after returning from his WAEC exam. I just pray that God would help him to do better,” the woman stated.

Another parent at the centre, Mrs. Kuye Temidayo, said her son got the notification very late on Thursday and never had enough time to prepare, as he was scheduled for the first session.

She said, “I came here from Ipele in Ayetoro, Ogun State. It was here they gave him the notification, and it came on Thursday evening. So, we had to quickly get his print-out and rush down here today. Personally, I believe the short notice will affect the students’ performance. The exam had even started before some of the students could locate this place. That notice was just too short,” she lamented.

“Our fear is that this may result in poor performance. We just have to pray that God helps them through it all, so that all our stress won’t be in vain. Take for instance, we had to pay for some chairs just to sit under the sun. The residents collected ₦300 from each person before giving us a chair. Those you see under that canopy had to pay even more to sit there. It’s just very stressful,” she added.

Corroborating this, another parent, Mrs Araba Stella, said some students got the exam notice on Friday morning, describing the short notice as a source of discomfort.

“We got the notification on Thursday afternoon, and we live in the Ikorodu area of Lagos. I have just been praying since then because there is a strong possibility that the short notice will affect the students’ performance.

“Some of them were expected to write the exam by 6:30 a.m. today, but some only got the notice this (Friday) morning. Some people are still unaware of their exam centre as we speak. The short notice is really causing a lot of discomfort,” she stated.

Meanwhile, the examinations were hitch-free in some centres monitored by our correspondents in Anambra and Owerri, Imo State, on Friday.

Our correspondents, who visited the three CBT centres within Awka metropolis, including St. Patrick’s College ICT Centre, JAMB ICT Centre, and St John of God ICT Centre, all in Anambra, observed heavy presence of security operatives.

The security operatives deployed to the centres were seen at their duty post conducting security screenings alongside JAMB officials’ biometric verification procedures for candidates.

Some of the candidates, who were not successfully screened, were asked to go and reprint their exam slips and were rescheduled to write the exam at a later time.

They urged JAMB to ensure that the lapses experienced in the earlier exam did not recur next time.

Speaking to our correspondent, Uchenna Akachukwu, one of the parents of a candidate at St. Patrick’s College ICT Centre, Awka, commended JAMB personnel and security officials for their “professionalism and discipline,” emphasising the importance of maintaining a secure, conducive, and serene environment for candidates.