Although the underage candidates were allowed to demonstrate their academic prowess, the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) revealed in a post on X on Monday that only 467 underage candidates, or 1.16 percent of the 40,247 underage candidates who took the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), scored highly enough to be placed under the exceptional ability category out of 1,955,069 processed results.
“Their performance in the subsequent three stages is still pending,” indicating that the evaluation process for these prodigious candidates is far from over.
The Board also cleared issues on disturbing cases of misconduct and absenteeism that characterised the 2025 UTME.
JAMB noted that a total of 97 candidates were involved in examination infractions, while 2,157 others are currently undergoing investigations for suspected malpractices.
Also concerning is the large number of students who failed to appear for the exam altogether.
“71,701 candidates were absent,” the Board confirmed, offering no immediate breakdown of reasons for their non-participation.
JAMB also addressed the issue of biometric verification challenges, a recurring problem in recent years.
“Candidates facing biometric challenges are under investigation, and those who are cleared will be rescheduled for examination at designated centres,” it announced.
In addition, some results remain unavailable as processing continues for certain categories.
“A few of the results, including those of blind candidates and others in the JEOG group, are still being processed,” the post further read.
According to the release, a press conference has been scheduled to provide further updates, during which individual results will be announced and access to result-checking portals will be enabled for all candidates.
Meanwhile, a statistical breakdown of the 2025 UTME results has revealed that a majority of the candidates scored below the 200 mark, with only 0.63% achieving scores of 300 and above.
According to data released by JAMB, out of the 1,955,069 candidates who sat for the exam:
Only 4,756 candidates (0.24%) scored 320 and above, considered top-tier performance.
7,658 candidates (0.39%) scored between 300–319, bringing the total for those who scored 300 and above to 12,414 candidates (0.63%).
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Only 73,441 candidates (3.76%) scored between 250–299, said JAMB
It explained that 334,560 candidates (17.11%) scored between 200–249.
The core of the result distribution sits in the mid-to-low range:
983,187 candidates (50.29%) scored between 160–199, which is widely regarded as the minimum threshold for admissions in many institutions.
Over 75% of all candidates scored below 200, the common benchmark for many competitive courses and universities.
