According to the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, 17,025 applicants, or 0.88 percent of nearly 2 million candidates total, received a score of 300 or higher in the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination. Since the Computer-Based Test was introduced, this is the highest number ever recorded.
JAMB released statistics on Sunday showing that performance has improved significantly under the CBT format compared to previous years.
More students took the 2025 UTME than in previous years. JAMB states it released results for all 1,931,467 candidates who sat for the exam, marking a rise from the 1,842,364 results published in 2024.
A statistical analysis released by JAMB on Sunday indicates that since the CBT format was implemented in 2013, performance has significantly improved when compared to prior years.
More students write 2025 UTME than the previous years
More students took the 2025 UTME than in previous years. JAMB states it released results for all 1,931,467 candidates who sat for the exam, marking a rise from the 1,842,364 results published in 2024.
Comparable analysis of 2025 UTME results to the previous years
In comparison, only 5,318 candidates (0.35 percent) scored 300 or above in 2023, and 8,401 (0.46 percent) did so in 2024. Earlier years saw far fewer top scorers—none in 2013 or 2014, and just 724 (0.06 percent) in 2021.
Comparatively, only 5,318 candidates (0.35 percent) scored 300 or above in 2023, and 8,401 (0.46 percent) did so in 2024. Previous years saw far fewer top scorers—none in 2013 or 2014, and just 724 (0.06 percent) in 2021.
In 2025, 117,373 candidates (6.08 percent) fell into the 250 and above category. Compared to 77,070 (4.18 percent) in 2024 and 56,736 (3.73 percent) in 2023, this is an increase.
Likewise, the report stated that “565,988 candidates, accounting for 29.3 percent, scored 200 and above, compared with 439,961 (24 percent) in 2024 and 355,689 (23.36 percent) in 2023.”
The majority of candidates, 1,365,479 (70.7 percent), scored below 200 in 2025 despite these gains. This indicates a minor decline from 76.64 percent in 2023 and 76 percent in 2024.
A comparison of the years shows notable variations in performance. In 2016, 568,847 candidates (34 percent) received a score of 200 or above, compared to just 168,650 candidates (13 percent) in 2021.
Recent years have seen a steady rise in the number of top scorers, indicating a tendency towards academic advancement and more CBT system familiarity.
Statistics show improvement in CBT-based UTME
JAMB has been improving its test procedures since the implementation of CBT in 2013, and the results for 2025 seem to demonstrate the benefits of these efforts.
It is anticipated that the Board will make more announcements regarding the ramifications of this year’s outcomes for the university admissions procedure.
The results of the retake exam given to applicants who were impacted by a technical glitch in the 2025 UTME were made public by JAMB on Sunday.
Recall how the 2025 UTME’s preliminary results were announced on May 9. Professor Ishaq Oloyede, the JAMB Registrar, revealed on May 14 that a technological error had jeopardised the results of 379,997 candidates from 157 centres in Lagos and the South-East regions.
The registrar affirmed that impacted applicants would have to retake the examination. During the first three days of the test, he blamed the problem on malfunctioning server updates that prevented candidates’ answers from being uploaded correctly.