The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has announced plans to conduct a special mop-up examination for candidates who missed the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
JAMB Registrar, Professor Ishaq Oloyede, disclosed this initiative during a stakeholders’ meeting in Abuja on Wednesday. He emphasized that the board aims to ensure no candidate is denied a fair chance due to absence.
“This time, we are creating a new mop-up. Even those who missed the earlier exam due to absence will get another opportunity,” Oloyede stated. “It’s not extraordinary. In any serious system, when students miss an exam, they’re allowed to make up—provided there’s no abuse.”
According to JAMB, more than 5.6% of registered candidates did not sit for the UTME, prompting the need for this additional round of testing.
Oloyede clarified that the UTME is designed as a ranking tool for admissions and not a test of intelligence. “Its purpose is to rank candidates for limited admission slots, not to test how smart someone is,” he explained.
Amid public concerns and criticism over the 2025 UTME process, including allegations of bias and incompetence, the JAMB registrar dismissed these claims, urging Nigerians to avoid ethnic interpretations of administrative issues.
“I take responsibility, not because I failed, but because that’s leadership,” he stated. “I didn’t even realize people viewed issues around me through ethnic lenses. We must rise above such profiling.”
He commended both candidates and JAMB staff for their efforts despite logistical challenges during the exam period. “We had limited space. We knew if we wasted more time grieving the challenges, students would lose their opportunity,” he said.
The date for the mop-up examination will be announced soon. JAMB reaffirmed its commitment to fairness and transparency in the admissions process.
