The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has reported a remarkable improvement in candidates’ performance in the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
According to official data, 17,025 candidates representing 0.88 per cent of the total 1,931,467 who sat for the exam scored 300 and above.
This marks the highest number of top scorers since the Computer-Based Test (CBT) format was introduced in 2013.
A statistical report obtained by LEADERSHIP on Sunday showed a clear upward trend in performance.
For comparison, only 8,401 candidates (0.46 per cent) scored 300 and above in 2024, while 5,318 (0.35 per cent) reached the same benchmark in 2023.
In earlier years, the numbers were even lower only 724 candidates (0.06 per cent) scored 300+ in 2021, and none in both 2014 and 2013.
The report also indicated a full release of results in 2025, with all 1,931,467 candidates receiving their scores surpassing the 1,842,364 results released in 2024.
Further analysis of the 2025 results showed that 117,373 candidates (6.08 per cent) scored 250 and above, a significant increase from 77,070 (4.18 per cent) in 2024 and 56,736 (3.73 per cent) in 2023.
Similarly, 565,988 candidates representing 29.3 per cent scored 200 and above, compared with 439,961 (24 per cent) in 2024 and 355,689 (23.36 per cent) in 2023.
Despite these gains, the majority of candidates – 1,365,479 (70.7 per cent) still scored below 200 in 2025. However, this figure showed a slight improvement from 76 per cent in 2024 and 76.64 per cent in 2023.
A year-by-year comparison underscores the fluctuating nature of performance trends. For instance, in 2021, only 168,650 candidates (13 per cent) scored 200 and above, while in 2016, the number was much higher at 568,847 (34 per cent).
