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A few days ago, the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) released the statistical analysis of the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), showing that 75 percent of candidates scored below average (200 out of 400).
The woeful performance has renewed public outcry and calls for urgent reforms and aggressive investment in Nigeria’s education sector.
For over a decade, the performance of candidates in UTME has been a growing concern. An analysis of official data from JAMB shows a consistent pattern: most candidates score below 200 out of the total 400 marks.
Read also: Peter Obi: Poor JAMB results reflect decades of neglect in education sector
Here’s a year-by-year breakdown of the number and percentage of candidates who scored less than 200 in the crucial examination over the last 10 years:
Read also: JAMB: Only 22% of UTME candidates scored 200 and above
2016
Candidates below 200: 1.59 million
Percentage: 64.24%
2017
Candidates below 200: 1.72 million
Percentage: 73.0%
2018
Candidates below 200: 1.19 million
Percentage: 74.1%
2019
Candidates below 200: 1.40 million
Percentage: 77.0%
2020
Candidates below 200: 1.54 million
Percentage: 79.2%
2021
Candidates below 200: 1.14 million
Percentage: 87.2%
2022
Candidates below 200: 1.33 million
Percentage: 77.8%
2023
Candidates below 200: 1.17 million
Percentage: 76.7%
2024
Candidates below 200: 1.40 million
Percentage: 76.1%
2025
Candidates below 200: 1.53 million
Percentage: 78.5%
