The Registrar, Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, on Wednesday broke into tears as he apologised for the errors in the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination.

Mr Oloyede, during a news conference in Bwari on Wednesday, took responsibility for the errors in the just concluded examinations.

He assured that the 379,997 affected candidates would be communicated through Short Message Service (SMS) by Thursday, so that they could reprint their slips for rescheduled examinations on Friday and Saturday.

Mr Oloyede revealed that the glitches, which caused widespread outrage and confusion among candidates and stakeholders, were traced to a failure in the deployment of updated grading software by one of JAMB’s service providers.

He said, “The issue specifically impacted 65 centres in the Lagos Zone affecting 206,610 candidates and 92 centres in Owerri Zone, affecting over 173,387 candidates. I apologise for the trauma caused the candidates and I take full responsibility for this.’’

About 1.9 million candidates who sat for the UTME, over 1.5 million reportedly scored below 200 out of the maximum 400 marks.

The board said that a total of 1,955,069 results were processed, out of which only 4,756 candidates (0.24 per cent) scored 320 and above.

Also, 7,658 candidates (0.39 per cent) scored between 300 and 319, bringing the total for those who scored 300 and above to 12,414 candidates (0.63 per cent). 73,441 candidates (3.76 per cent) scored between 250 and 299 while 334,560 candidates (17.11 per cent) scored between 200 and 249.

A total of 983,187 candidates (50.29 per cent) scored between 160 and 199, which is widely regarded as the minimum threshold for admissions in many institutions.

In the same vein, 488,197 candidates (24.97 per cent) scored between 140 and 159, 57,419 candidates (2.94 per cent), scored between 120 and 139, 3,820 candidates (0.20 per cent) scored between 100 and 119, and 2,031 candidates (0.10 per cent) scored below 100.

Mr Oloyede admitted that one or two errors were made during the 2025 UTME after the investigations were carried out.

The registrar also highlighted JAMB’s robust quality assurance systems, which include mock exams, technical simulations, and deployment of oversight teams comprising vice-chancellors, civil society representatives, software engineers, and education experts.

However, he acknowledged that even the most stringent measures cannot eliminate risks.

He said, “This unfortunate incident represents significant self-harm to the integrity we’ve built over the years. But we remain committed to transparency, fairness, and equity. It is our culture to admit error and take responsibility.”

In response to public concern, he said the board fast-tracked its typical post-exam audit, which was originally scheduled for June.

According to him, the board convened emergency meetings with stakeholders, including educators, psychometricians, and student associations, to isolate the issue and chart a course for remediation.

“We apologise, sincerely, to the Nigerian students, parents, and schools affected. While this was not a case of sabotage, the oversight by one of our two service providers was inexcusable,” the registrar stated.

He added that the 2025 UTME recorded the highest individual score in the last 15 years with 374 highest score.

He said this indicated improvements from previous years, noting that overall performance still aligned with historical trends, with some early reports of widespread failure stemming largely from the glitch in affected zones.

(NAN)