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By Olakunle Olafioye and Vivian Onyebukwa
The 2026 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination has ended with a familiar curtain call. Reports of technical glitches, late commencement of examination and poor performance by candidates dominate discussions about the latest outing of the Joint Admission Matriculation Board, (JAMB). Beyond this, the examination body is also taking the knocks for holding on to the results of underage candidates who sat for the just concluded examination.
No results’ shocker for underage students
While JAMB released the results of the candidates who sat the examination in batches hours after the conclusion of each round of examination, some candidates reported, “No Result Yet” in their attempts to know their scores. The examination body however clarified that this category of candidates are largely those below the minimum qualifying age of 16 required of candidates who sat for the 2026 UTME.
In a statement signed by its spokesperson, Fabian Benjamin last Tuesday, JAMB explained that results for underage candidates had not been released and that the system would only return the message ‘No Result Yet’ whenever an underage candidate attempts to check his or her result.
According to the statement, only candidates who will be at least 16 years old by September 30, 2026, are eligible to register and sit for the UTME. It however, noted that exceptions exist for academically outstanding candidates.
“As stipulated by regulation, only candidates who will be at least 16 years old by 30th September 2026 are eligible.
“Underage candidates may be considered under the exceptional category, provided they demonstrate outstanding ability by scoring 320 and above in the UTME and attaining at least 80 per cent in subsequent screening stages,” it stated.
The board noted further that only candidates who meet the 320 benchmark will be shortlisted for further screening.
“In line with the agreement reached and endorsed by parents of these underage candidates, only those who score 320 and above will be shortlisted and invited to proceed to the next stages of the screening,” the statement noted.
Tales of frustration
Like the mock examination held earlier in March, some candidates and their parents are also fuming over technical glitches recorded during the just examination. In Abuja, candidates posted to Good Success Computer-Based Test Centre, Utako, lamented their frustration as their examination was disrupted at the centre over network failure. A parent, Mr. David Afolayan, who interacted with the members of Senate Committee on Tertiary Education, while monitoring the exercise, expressed his dissatisfaction over the development.
Afolayan explained that the examination which was initially slated for Thursday, April 16 was rescheduled for Friday, April 17 due to network failure, only to be informed after that the examination could no longer hold again. “My daughter is writing, she was supposed to write yesterday. They said there was no network. They said we should come today to write. We came today. We’ve been here since 6 o’clock.
“They are talking about relocating the children to another centre. Some children paid more than N6,000 to N10,000 as transport to get here. Who will pay for them to go there again,” he inquired rather dejectedly.
Fear and safety concerns
Many parents whose children sat for the exams complained of the far distance between candidates’ homes and their assigned Computer-Based Test (CBT) centres. In a city such as Lagos, noted for gridlock and crime, students found themselves posted to long distant areas. Some of the centres were located in some remote areas and difficult to access even with google maps.
One of such parents, Mike Ohanka shared his experience. “We live in Okokomaiko, Ojo area, Lagos, while my son was posted to Raji Rasaki in Festac, Lagos. We had to leave our home at 5:00 am, just to get to the centre before 7:00 am commencement time, and the streets by that time were deserted. People were afraid of coming out by that time of the morning as a result of insecurity, and hoodlums who always rob unsuspecting people of their items, maim and do other things. My son and I devised a tactic of printing his exam slip in triplicate. We hid them separately, so that in the event that we were unlucky to be robbed, then my son would still have an extra slip to write the examination.”
Mr Ohanka questioned why JAMB scheduled the examination around that time, especially in a state like Lagos where people find it difficult to move around safely. “Even some people came late that day while we were there. They arrived around after seven to eight in the morning, because they were waiting for the day to break”.
Parents and guardians also expressed concern over what they perceived as JAMB’s insensitivity to safety and security of candidates. In Plateau State, candidates, parents and other concerned groups criticised JAMB’s posting strategy, which according to them did not take cognisance of the prevailing security situation in the state. Their apprehension follows reports of attacks in some communities across Plateau State, particularly in Jos North, Bokkos, Barkin Ladi, Bassa and other local government areas, where candidates were scheduled to sit the examination.
The Chairman of the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS), Jos North LGA Chapter, Alhaji Abdullahi Salihu Malami, tasked JAMB to urgently review its candidate posting strategy. Malami said the call followed complaints from concerned parents and stakeholders, including faith-based groups, over the safety and welfare of candidates scheduled to sit for the examination.
He noted that posting candidates to security-sensitive areas without adequate consideration for prevailing security and logistical realities had increased anxiety among parents, imposed additional transportation and financial burdens as well as exposing candidates to potential risks.
The same concern was raised in Lagos where a parent, Mrs Ngozi Okpalakunne also criticised the lack of geographic consideration and safety concern in the JAMB allocation process. She questioned why a child living in Ikorodu should be posted to a centre in a remote part of Badagry for a seven o’clock exam. She described it as stressful and dangerous.
Narrating her ordeal, she said, “Taking my children almost outside Lagos to write JAMB exams has not been a pleasant experience to me. Each time I did not visit the venue a day or two before the exam, we would run the risk of almost missing the exam because of the distance”.
She then suggested more CBT centres to be approved by JAMB so that students can write exams at the centres not too far from where they reside. “A lot of JAMB students have lost their lives in accidents, while some have been kidnapped and killed. Some of these problems can be curbed when they do not travel long distances to write the JAMB exam”, Okpalakunne said..
Parents’ share of UTME burden
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In a clear case which underscores the stress associated with JAMB’s arrangements in the conduct of UTME for both parents and candidates, a parent, Mrs. Joy Okeke expressed anger over the reported sudden death of a woman at Ilara-Mokin Junction in Ifedore Local Government Area of Ondo State. The woman identified as Oluwasola Adebayo, collapsed while waiting for her child at the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) centre at Ilara-Mokin on Monday. Eyewitnesses revealed that she suddenly became weak, slumped, and was later confirmed dead at the scene. “This goes a long way to confirm what parents go through for the sake of their children. The stress is too much on parents,” Mrs Okeke said.
Pockets of protests
Pockets of protests also greeted the shortcomings recorded during the just concluded UTME at some centres. At Olive House Academy, Orimerunmu, Ogun State, angry candidates engaged in a shouting match with JAMB and CBT centre officials, whom they claimed allegedly logged them out in the middle of the examination. A candidate who craved anonymity alleged that the officials at the centre logged out the candidates writing the examination in an attempt to change the power source from generator to solar. According to him, the candidates had barely spent 14 minutes when the officials decided to change from generator to solar. He claimed that the candidates could however not continue with their examination until their time elapsed.
Also there were reports of system failures, login issues and unexpected shutdowns, which left many candidates stranded and anxious.
Many candidates said the problems began shortly after the commencement of examinations.
At the Oduduwa Polytechnic at 213, Egbeda-Idimu Road in Alimosho Local Government, Lagos, some candidates reported being unable to log into the system despite repeated attempts, while others said their computers froze midway through the test.
Several other candidates stated that their allotted time continued to run despite the technical difficulties, preventing them from completing their exams.
At some centres, the hiccups snowballed into protests, with candidates and parents demanding immediate intervention from JAMB officials.
Self-assessment by JAMB
JAMB Registrar, Prof Ishaq Oloyede, however commended the examination board’s outing for the 2026 but admitted that the examination process recorded minimal hitches.
Oloyede’s assessment came during an inspection visit to the University of Ibadan (UI) CBT centre as part of routine monitoring in Oyo State. He said the exercise was largely successful, noting that only a few centres experienced challenges related to power supply and minor technical faults. “Out of about 980 centres nationwide, we have recorded issues in only about 16 centres,” Oloyede claimed.
As at the time of giving his assessment, the JAMB registrar said the board had conducted examinations for over 1.7 million candidates successfully in three days and described the process as “superb,” commending Vice-Chancellors, Rectors and other academic officials serving as proctors.
On security concerns raised before and during the examination, including reports of kidnapping, Oloyede urged caution saying. “It is unfortunate that people were kidnapped but linking them directly to JAMB without evidence complicates security efforts. The focus should be on ensuring their safe return,” he said.
He also clarified that examinations did not start at 6:30 am but that candidates were required to arrive early for accreditation, noting that the board adjusted the schedule from 8:00 am to 8:30 am following feedback.
Oloyede also warned candidates and parents against engaging with fraudsters offering exam runs or score manipulation, stating that suspects were already facing prosecution. “We have our own mechanisms to detect such fraud. Those who attempt shortcuts will be identified and sanctioned,” he said.
Abysmally disturbing results
While JAMB appears to be in a state of euphoria over the relative improved performance in its conduct of the 2026 UTME, particularly in view of the trepidation raised earlier following the widespread hitches recorded during March 27 Mock UTME, the performance of the candidates who sat for the examination has continued to generate concern across the country.
A total of 1,955,069 registered for this year’s UTM E. Out of this figure, 1, 897,692 candidates have had their results released so far. Statistics from JAMB however indicates that more than 75 percent of these candidates scored below 200 marks. A breakdown of the data shows that 983,187, representing 50 percent, the largest percentage of the candidates who sat for the examination, scored between 160 and 199.
A further analysis indicates that 488,197 candidates (25%) scored between 140–159, while 334,560 candidates (17.1 per cent) fell within the 200–249 range, a bracket often considered the minimum threshold for admission into many competitive institutions.
A paltry fraction of the candidates scored higher marks. 73,441 candidates representing 3.8 per cent scored between 250–299, while 7,658 , representing 0.4 per cent scored between 300–319. At the very peak of the score chart are 4,756 candidates, representing 0.2 per cent, scored 320 marks and above.
CBT’s mixed bag of outcomes
Since 2013, when the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board, JAMB introduced the Computer Based Testing (CBT) option as a way to curb the rising cases of examination malpractice, analysts observed that the performances of candidates sitting for the UTME on a yearly basis have taken a downward turn.
For instance in 2010, a period of three years before the introduction of CBT by JAMB, 40 per cent of candidates who sat for the UTME in the year scored 200 and above. However, in 2015, two years into the introduction of CBT, candidates’ performance dropped as only 30 per cent of those who wrote the examination in the year scored 200 and above. Candidates’ performances in the examination have since then been on a downward trajectory with 24 per cent making the 200- mark threshold in 2019; 23 per cent met the benchmark in 2023. In 2025, only 22 per cent of the candidates who participated in the year’s UTME scored 200 and above. And this year, a little above 21 per cent made 200 marks threshold.
While JAMB continues to receive the accolades for succeeding in tightening the noose around examination cheats and protecting the integrity of its examination and results, experts are concerned about the steady decline in the performance of UTME candidates.
The Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, had last year attributed the high failure rate in UTME to an indication that the anti-malpractice measures adopted by JAMB are working effectively. In his response to the poor performance of candidates in the year’s examination, the minister said, “That’s a big concern, and it’s a reflection of exams being done the proper way. JAMB conducts its exam using a computer-based testing system. They’ve implemented strong security measures, and as a result, fraud or cheating has been completely eliminated.”
Experts blamed a combination of factors, including poor preparations, for the steady decline in the performance of candidates who sit for the examination on yearly basis. An educationist, Mr. Rotimi Oluyemi, who noted that the situation is not limited to UTME, said the inability of students to study hard enough for the examination is responsible for mass failure among candidates. “Majority of the candidates didn’t prepare enough for the examination while many students either started reading too late for the examination. Where you have students who failed to prepare adequately for an examination, the result is predictable,” he stated.
