Mass Failure: JAMB Announces Date For Fresh UTME Exams

News Update

THE Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has announced plans to reschedule the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) for candidates affected by technical issues in 157 centres.

The centres, located in the Lagos and Owerri zones, experienced disruptions that led to the loss of candidate responses during the early days of the exam.

According to JAMB, the problem was traced to a failure in updating certain delivery servers by the service provider, which affected the proper upload of answers.

In total, 65 centres in Lagos zone, covering 206,610 candidates, and 92 centres in Owerri zone, involving 173,387 candidates, were impacted.

The error was detected on April 25, 2025, the second day of the examination.

JAMB said all affected candidates will retake their exams starting Friday, May 16, 2025.

The board will notify them through text messages, emails, and phone calls using the contact details provided during registration.

These candidates are also required to reprint their examination slips to confirm the new dates and venues.

To avoid clashes with the ongoing West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), JAMB has reached an understanding with the West African Examinations Council (WAEC).

WAEC has agreed to allow JAMB to adjust its schedule within the WAEC timetable.

Most UTME candidates with possible clashes, especially those who are meant to sit for Agricultural Science on Friday, will instead take the UTME on Saturday to avoid any overlap.

JAMB added that the literature texts required for both the SSCE and UTME are mostly the same, except for a specific reading text in the UTME’s Use of English, which contributes only ten marks.

This means candidates preparing for both exams should not face serious difficulty with the new arrangement.

The board stated that the decision to reschedule was necessary to ensure fairness.