The board stated that out of over 1.9 million candidates who took the exam, results for 39,834 were being held due to suspected exam malpractice.
JAMB’s Registrar, Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, made this known in Abuja on Friday while unveiling the 2025 UTME results.
The examination board further stated that 80 people were currently under probe for offences linked to the exam, with Anambra State accounting for the highest number, totaling 14 suspects.
The Registrar shared that 467 candidates below the required age achieved scores above the benchmark, while 50 others were implicated in exam fraud.
“A total of 39,834 results remain unreleased. Of these, 1,426 results are under scrutiny and processing,” Oloyede said.
Oloyede said that 96 candidates’ results were being withheld over exam malpractice, noting this number is a drop from 123 cases recorded the year before.
He reaffirmed the Board’s unwavering stance on eradicating all forms of exam malpractice and mentioned that 1,957,000 candidates were confirmed to have sat for the exam, with 71,705 not showing up.
He explained that 2,157 candidates were affected by fingerprint rejection issues stemming from suspected registration violations, a number he said exceeds tolerable limits and is under probe.
He said, “The 2025 UTME showed the prevalence of some particular types of infractions, which suggests systemic vulnerabilities or gaps in registration and examination administration and/or monitoring.”
“The new trends observed were in the Registration and Examination processes, and they were mainly in the following categories: Identity Fraud, and Biometric Fraud of Combined Thumbprint of Candidate.”
He also said that other violations included impersonation at the point of registration with the active participation of certain CBT Centres, multiple registrations, and attempted candidate substitutions.
Oloyede revealed that 244 students were caught engaging in “WhatsApp runs,” subscribing to illegal groups promising leaked questions.
He said their results have also been withheld to serve as a strong warning.
He noted that in several instances, entire syndicates conspired with CBT centres to register candidates using multiple sets of fingerprints.
He said that, as a consequence, 3,656 candidates with “extraneous fingerprints” had their results held back, and the implicated CBT centres would face penalties.
He identified those centres as Tigh Technologies Limited, Sascon International School in Maitama, Abuja, and Wudil Computer Information Technology in Wudil, Kano State, along with Penta M &Amp; Centre 2 in Tambuwal LGA, Sokoto, Sokoto State.
Oloyede mentioned that 80 suspects were currently being interrogated by the police over their roles in the exam malpractice cases and that many of them would be taken to court.
He said: “The Board has identified the presence of extraneous fingers in the registration details of some of these candidates. This raises concerns regarding potential strategies for impersonation.”
“A total of 3,656 candidates fall within this category. Consequently, the results of the candidates have been withheld.”
On the issue of underage candidates, he clarified that after the Ministry of Education’s decision to enforce a 16-year minimum age policy, “exceptionally gifted” underage applicants were granted special exemption.
The registrar stated that out of the 41,027 underage students who applied, only 467 satisfied the high-performance criteria, although one of them was disqualified for exam malpractice.
He said the Board was still determined to offer the right support to persons with disabilities aiming for higher education.
He stated that in the 2025 UTME, a total of 501 persons were successfully examined under the JAMB Equal Opportunity Group (JEOG) across 11 centres nationwide.
According to Oloyede, their results were also released, but unfortunately, one of them was involved in impersonation.
The registrar went on to say that four centres had been removed and blacklisted because of serious technical shortcomings and poor performance.
He named those centres as Adventure Associate, located behind Sheshe Supermarket in Kano, and Saadatu Rimi College of Education in Zaria.
Others include Soronara Ventures Nigeria Limited on Foundation Road, Umudagu Mbieri, Mbaitoli, Imo State, and HSS Amazing, Holy Saviour School 30/32, Old Ota Road, Adeleye, Aparadija, Isunba, Lafenwa, Itele, Ogun State.
He also said that a list of centres banned for engaging in fraud would be released soon, along with details of their illegal actions.
Oloyede emphasized that in spite of the difficulties, the 2025 UTME had been considered one of the most well-organized and successful editions in recent years.
He reaffirmed the Board’s dedication to enforcing strict policies against exam malpractice and announced continued improvements to protect the reliability of public exams.
On how to check their UTME results, Oloyede said: “To check the 2025 UTME results, candidates should send by text message ‘UTMERESULT’ as one word to 55019 or 66019 using the same phone number they had used to register during the registration process. Result printing will be available later.”
