The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has announced plans to conduct another mop-up examination for candidates who missed the recently concluded Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
According to JAMB Registrar, Professor Is-haq Oloyede, the decision aims to accommodate the estimated 5.6% of candidates who were unable to take their exams. Oloyede stated this during a meeting with key stakeholders in Abuja, where he addressed the challenges encountered during the 2025 UTME exercise.
The JAMB Registrar emphasized that the board remains committed to resolving issues affecting the examination process and rejected any suggestion that administrative failures were due to incompetence or ethnic bias. He urged stakeholders to stop ethnic profiling of education and criticized those who exploit difficulties to promote ethnic or conspiracy-driven narratives.
Oloyede asserted that many criticisms of JAMB’s operations were rooted in ignorance and commended his team’s efforts, stressing that JAMB does not discriminate based on background or ethnicity.
Oloyede also expressed appreciation for the resilience shown by candidates, many of whom continued their exams despite various challenges. He noted that JAMB is organizing a special mop-up exercise to extend the opportunity to all affected candidates, regardless of the reason for their absence.
This decision, he explained, is in line with the practice of making up examinations for students who miss them for various reasons. The mop-up examination will allow all candidates who missed the main exam to take part and have their scores considered for admission.
In his remarks, Oloyede also clarified the role of the UTME, emphasizing that it is a placement test, not an achievement test. He noted that the purpose of the UTME is to rank candidates for available spaces in institutions, not to measure intelligence or overall academic potential. High UTME scores, he explained, are not the sole determinant of admission, as combined performance including post-UTME scores and school assessments can significantly affect a candidate’s ranking.
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