Schools should share blame for candidates’ poor UTME scores

The poor performance by candidates in the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) conducted by the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has been blamed on technical glitches, power failure at various centres, malfunctioning of computers, the timing of the examinations, and several other challenges.  The results this year showed that over 75 per cent […]

The poor performance by candidates in the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) conducted by the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has been blamed on technical glitches, power failure at various centres, malfunctioning of computers, the timing of the examinations, and several other challenges.

 The results this year showed that over 75 per cent of the candidates scored below 200 points out of 400 maximum points, an indication that only 25 per cent of the candidates obtained 50 per cent in the examinations.

The data published by JAMB shows that a total of 1,955,069 results were processed, out of which only 4,756 candidates (0.24%) scored 320 and above, the top-tier performance. Also, 7,658 candidates (0.39%) scored between 319, bringing the total for those who scored 300 and above to 12,414 candidates (0.63%). A total of 73,441 candidates (3.76%) scored between 250 and 299, while 334,560 candidates (17.11%) scored between 200 and 249. The majority of the candidates scored marks that were below average, as a total of 983,187 candidates (50.29%) scored between 160 and 199. The scores in this bracket are accepted as the minimum threshold for admissions in many institutions. There were other lower scores, like 488,197 candidates (24.97%) who scored between 140 and 159; 57,419 candidates (2.94%) who scored between 120 and 139; 3,820 candidates (0.20%) who scored between 100 and 119; and 2,031 candidates (0.10%) who scored below 100.

Though there has been a loud outcry over this year’s low scores, the trend is not totally different from the performances in recent years. The Registrar of JAMB, Professor Ishaq Oloyede, said recently that “This is not peculiar to this year. The performance statistics are consistent with those of the last 12 years.”

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But at a press conference in Abuja on Wednesday, the registrar admitted errors for the mass failure that trailed the 2025 UTME.

He also fought tears while acknowledging the ugly development, and announced that about 379,997 candidates in the just concluded examination would retake the examination.

This followed widespread complaints of technical glitches, unusually low scores, and alleged irregularities.

Beyond the admittance by JAMB, it is disturbing that tertiary institutions have been forced to bend over backward to admit students who score below average in this critical examination into various degree-awarding courses. Nigeria’s polytechnics and colleges of education still admit candidates who score between 120 and 140, marks that would be considered failed scores.

Many of the candidates who perform poorly in the UTME obtain the required credit scores, including English Language and Mathematics, in the West African School Senior Certificate (SSCE) and the National Examination Council (NECO) examinations. This incongruence proves that there is a disconnect between SSCE and UTME examinations. The two examinations are different. The school certificate examinations are achievement tests, which evaluate how much knowledge in various subjects students have learned and retained. The UTME examination is an aptitude examination, which emphasises not just knowledge in subjects, but also critical thinking, logical reasoning, analytical reasoning, speed and accuracy.

Examinations that are equivalent to the UTME are the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), the International English Language Testing System (IELTS), the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT), and the like. Candidates for these examinations are taken through rigorous classes because their requirements are a bit different from those of the General Certificate of Education (GCE). Besides knowledge in specific subjects, candidates are practically drilled in skills related to verbal and quantitative reasoning, scientific thinking, problem-solving, reading comprehension, inferences, and data analysis. In our junior primary schools, verbal and quantitative reasoning, which form the foundation of critical thinking skills, are taught, but the practice is not followed through to the senior secondary schools.

The typical 0.24 per cent who score 300 and above in our UTME examinations achieve that feat through very tortuous efforts. They study and attempt past questions of a decade and more. They familiarise themselves with typical questions and answers and prepare to tackle similar ones. But it is not clear if they imbibe critical thinking and analytical skills in the practice of past questions. It, therefore, follows that low scores in UTMEs are actually a systemic problem in the country’s education system. It affects the entire system, and it is deeply rooted in the fact that many candidates were not prepared and equipped for aptitude tests. If these skills are not added to the subjects taught, candidates face very high chances of failure. It is for this reason that even university graduates and subject teachers could perform poorly on the UTME, though they are armed with university degrees.

It is not enough to lament the woeful performance of candidates in the UTME examinations. Our secondary schools must deliberately incorporate studies in logical thinking, critical reasoning, inferences, data analysis and the like in the subjects they teach students who prepare for UTME. Candidates must be deliberately equipped for the UTME. In Europe and America, where the SAT, IELTS, GMAT, and similar examinations are conducted, candidates are exposed to specific text materials that introduce them to strategies for answering aptitude test questions. In Nigeria, however, candidates are advised to study or memorise past questions, not necessarily to master the skills, when preparing for UTME. Our educational institutions must address this deficiency instead of expecting miracle performance from candidates who were never really groomed for the aptitude test.