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The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has admitted that technical glitches disrupted the 2026 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) mock examinations held on March 28, 2026, at the various Computer Based Test (CBT) centres nationwide.
Technical glitches are a reoccurring decimal, especially during the main examination.
This has brought about deep frustrations to both the students and parents.
In this report, some Nigerians suggested what the board should do to overcome these technical glitches, thereby improving its operations.
JAMB should increase its bandwidths – Prof John Igoli, lecturer; Makurdi
The Board should consider increasing their bandwidths to ensure smooth data flow and ease of uploading and downloading data and information. Low bandwidths lead to congestion and technical hitches and glitches. Although our network coverage or teledensity is reported to be 85.16 per cent, there is a high disparity between major cities and other towns and rural areas, hence glitches and low traffic is experienced in the smaller towns and rural areas.
The Board may consider installing network boosters in such locations to enhance their operations and examinations. They should liaise with network providers to expand their networks. It is assumed that modern computers and current windows software are being used; this is an urgent area or aspect to consider and invest in.
Board should decentralise examination and conduct it on regional basis with different dates – Immam Nma Shuaib, researcher; Abuja
The JAMB management should deploy AI in the administration of the pre-test examination before human physical testing. They should also invest hugely in IT infrastructure because the CBT is IT based and infrastructure is the backbone.
The Board must also ensure proper Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) practice for every examination, and they should ensure decentralisation of examination and conducting it on a regional basis with different dates.
JAMB should carry out technical audits, and re-verifie all accredited CBT centres – Ejike Ugwuoke, lecturer; Makurdi
JAMB should immediately intensify technical audits and re-verifies all accredited CBT centres to ensure high-performance computers, stable network connectivity and reliable power supply. They should also sanction centres that fail to meet technical standards or display negligence by delisting or blacklisting them, and also more centres should be accredited. They should mandate all centres to have fully functional audited and standby UPS, generator and solar backups to prevent disruptions from electricity failures.
JAMB must also enhance network monitoring, they should utilise a centralised real-time monitoring system to detect and fix server lags immediately during the main exam, since glitches are mostly temporary and resolvable.
Board should conduct multiple large-scale stress tests ahead of main examination – Rev. Emmanuel Olorunmagba, school proprietor; Kaduna
As a school owner in Kaduna State and by implication, a concerned stakeholder in Nigeria’s education sector, I find the admission by JAMB regarding the technical glitches that disrupted the 2026 mock Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, deeply troubling, though not entirely surprising.
This has become a recurring issue over the years, and it continues to erode public confidence in a system that is meant to be a gateway to higher education.
Had it been that such glitches are limited to the mock exams, one might assume that it’s just because it’s a test run before the main exams. But even during the main examination, technical glitches have become recurring decimal and this is just so pathetic.
In the first place, JAMB must invest more robustly in infrastructure by upgrading its servers and ensuring that all CBT centres meet strict technical standards before accreditation. There should be a comprehensive audit of all centres, with those failing to meet requirements barred from participation.
Secondly, the Board should conduct multiple large-scale stress tests ahead of the main examination, simulating real exam conditions across the country. This will help identify vulnerabilities in the system before candidates are affected. In addition, there should be a standby rapid-response technical team deployed regionally to address issues in real time during examinations.
JAMB should set real time monitoring dashboard at headquarters to view every CBT centre’s server in real time – Elder Sunday Oibe, Northern Christians group; Kaduna
I think that the use of ‘technical glitches’ is too vague. JAMB needs to be more specific. Are the CBT centres having network challenges or hardware issues? Or does JAMB online infrastructure have problems? Using some of this terminology to cover up their inefficiency is unacceptable. If those saddled with the responsibility of managing JAMB lack capacity to handle it, they should give way for younger people who are technically sound and are willing to make a mark to take up the challenge.
Lastly, the Ministry of Education should device a new and a better method of getting the younger ones from secondary school to university outside of the hardship these young ones and their parents usually go through in the name of JAMB to be admitted into higher institutions.
While JAMB uses the mock specifically to “stress-test” the system before the main event, the fact that over 20 centres have already been delisted for technical inadequacies show there is still a significant gap between the Board’s digital ambitions and the local infrastructure’s reality.
To move beyond these recurring glitches, JAMB should implement real time monitoring dashboard at its headquarters, which it can use to view the health of every CBT centre’s server in real time
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JAMB should migrate from local servers to cloud-based infrastructure – Comrade Charles Jaja, activist; Port Harcourt
The 2026 UTME mock glitches on March 28 are not an isolated incident – they are a part of a disturbing pattern. For years, candidates and parents have faced deep frustration from crashed systems, missing questions, and delayed start times during both mock and main exams. When technical failures repeatedly disrupt a high-stakes national exam, it stops being a “glitch” and becomes a failure of planning that jeopardises the future of millions.
To overcome this, JAMB must urgently adopt three fixes before the next main UTME. Firstly, it should commission an independent tech audit of all server clusters and CBT centres and publish the results, so that patch errors like the 2025 Lagos/South East incident is never repeated. Secondly, it should migrate from local servers to cloud-based infrastructure and delist any centre that fails during mock. Thirdly, it should reduce system load by running UTME biannually and guarantees transparency by releasing mark sheets with a clear dispute process. These steps will restore trust and end the cycle of avoidable breakdowns.
Electricity and internet connectivity must be top notch -Ipogah Michael, teacher; Benin
There should be multiple CBT centres across the length and breadth of every city that can accommodate all the examinees.
Besides that, the issues of electricity and internet connectivity must be top notch to ensure a hitch free CBT exercise by JAMB.
I believe when all these are addressed, there will not be any technical glitch.
JAMB should invest in high speed fibre optic infrastructure – Itietie Omojevwe, activist, Benin
Since the transition to Computer Based Test (CBT), technical glitches have become almost synonymous with JAMB examinations.
While such glitches cannot be completely eliminated in any computer based system, they can and should be minimised to the barest minimum through deliberate and proactive measures.
To achieve this, JAMB should in the first place, train its entire technical staff in countries with a proven high success rate in CBT examinations.
Secondly, the Board must invest in the latest equipment, high speed fibre optic infrastructure, and insist that only centres equipped with up to date technology are accredited.
Thirdly, the server system should be decentralised, with regional servers established across the six geo political zones for a start.
Finally, conducting more than two mock examinations will help assess the technical readiness of CBT centres and identify weaknesses before the main exam.
These steps will significantly reduce glitches and improve the credibility of JAMB examinations.
JAMB should ensure that only CBT centres with state-of-the-art facilities are chosen – Uche Esobe, businessman; Aba
It is quite unfortunate that in this 21st Century when the world is exiting the computer age into the Artificial intelligence (AI ), JAMB would be complaining about technical glitches disrupting the 2026 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) mock, held at various Computer Based Test (CBT) centres, nationwide.
If the Board could face such technical glitches during the mock, then what will happen during the main examination? The Board should as a matter of urgency, upgrade her facilities and ensure that only CBT centres with state of the art facilities are allowed to conduct exams for JAMB.
If Nigeria has not yet got needed facilities to conduct computer based examination, it should revert to analogue -Kalu Onumah, public affairs analyst; Aba
Things that are not heard of elsewhere, occur every day in Nigeria. We talk about technical glitches during elections and we also talk about the technical glitches during exams. I don’t know whether we are moving forward or backward in Nigeria. If JAMB, by extension, Nigeria is not yet ripe; has not yet gotten the needed facilities to conduct computer based examination, it should revert to its former analogue method to save the country this embarrassment.
JAMB should connect with the NCC and service providers – David West, civil rights activist; Yenagoa
Since the inauguration of the CBT, JAMB has improved its examinations and the timely release of results. In essence, it has helped tremendously to upgrade JAMB examinations. However, network and technical glitches are other issues to look into. In my opinion, JAMB should take a serious look at it.
I am aware that Nigeria has SAT 1, so what is the use of our satellite, which we have launched, if we cannot get a clear network to run our activities in this country? JAMB should connect with the NCC and service providers so that these glitches can be averted, so that when students are writing exams, we would not hear of glitches like INEC glitches.
