The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has announced plans to hold an additional mop-up examination for candidates who missed the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
JAMB Registrar, Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, disclosed this on Wednesday during a meeting in Abuja with education stakeholders. He said the extra exam was being arranged to accommodate the 5.6% of registered candidates who were unable to sit for the UTME.
“Even those who missed the earlier examination due to absence, we will extend this opportunity to them,” Oloyede said. “It is like a make-up test in school. We are not doing anything extraordinary.”
In previous years, JAMB only held one mop-up exam for candidates affected by technical issues or other approved reasons. However, the board has decided to widen the scope this year to ensure that no student is left behind, regardless of the reason for missing the exam.
The Registrar also used the opportunity to address widespread criticism and misconceptions about the UTME. He stressed that the UTME is a *placement* exam, not a test of intelligence or academic ability.
“It’s meant to rank candidates for available admission spaces, not to determine how brilliant someone is,” he explained.
He added that admissions into Nigerian universities and other tertiary institutions are based on a combination of factors, including UTME scores, post-UTME performance, and other school-based assessments.
Reacting to criticisms and conspiracy theories about this year’s exam glitches, Oloyede defended JAMB’s integrity and rejected claims of incompetence or ethnic bias. He described such accusations as unfounded and harmful to national unity.
“People who have worked well for years should not be judged by one incident. What happened was unfortunate, but there is no conspiracy or bias involved,” he said.
Oloyede also called for unity in addressing challenges in the education sector and advised critics to stop using ethnic or political sentiments to undermine the board’s work.
He praised JAMB staff for their commitment and thanked candidates who showed resilience despite technical issues during the exam.
Dates and venues for the upcoming mop-up exam will be announced soon, according to JAMB.
