By JOHN ONAH, Abuja –.
Over 41,000 underage candidates, out of the 2.03 million registered for the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), participated in the examination.
However, NATIONAL ACCORD learnt that the hurdle between them and admission is, they must score at least 70 percent in both UTME, post UTME and o’leve results.
The Registrar, Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, disclosed that the Board and the parents of the underaged candidates signed undertaking to that effect
While speaking on the early schedule of the exams, he clarified that the board’s UTME exams had always begun at 8:00 a.m.
Oloyede said that candidates were only expected to be on ground by 6:30 a.m., to enable them get accredited before the exams.
He dismissed complaints about early arrival times, noting that it was necessary to screen candidates before exams begin.
“We have always started our exams at 8 o’clock. The first session is 8 o’clock, second session 10:30, third session, 1 p.m, and fourth session 3:30p.m.
Oloyede also debunked claims of candidates being posted to centres they did not choose, stating that investigations showed no such cases happened.
He confirmed that more than 1.6 million out of 2.03 million registered candidates had completed their exams, with about 50,000 remaining.
The registrar further revealed that more than 40 candidates had been arrested for malpractice, including impersonation and attempting to smuggle out exam questions with hidden cameras.
