THE results of the 2024 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) have been released.
It shows that just 24 per cent of the 1.8 million candidates whose results have been released scored above 200.
The outcome, disclosed on Monday, April 29, during a press briefing at the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) headquarters in Bwari, Abuja, by JAMB’s registrar, Ishaq Oloyede, revealed that more than 1.94 million candidates registered and participated in the examination across 118 towns and over 700 centres nationwide.
The examination, which began on Friday, April 19, and ended on Monday, April 29, saw 80,810 candidates absent out of the 1,989,668 candidates registered for the exams.
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This means that 1,904,189 candidates sat for the UTME within six days of the examination.
The JAMB registrar said the results of 1,842,464 candidates had been released, while 64,624 candidates had their results withheld for possible infractions.
Meanwhile, out of the 1.8 million results released, where the maximum score obtainable was 400, Oloyede stated that 8,401 candidates, representing 0.5 per cent of the total, scored 300 and above.
Oloyede further broke down the results, noting that “77,070 scored 250 and above; 439,974 scored 200 and above while 1,402,490 scored below 200.”
Although the examination body has yet to release the cut-off mark for the 2024/2025 academic session admissions, 140 was set for the 2023 admission into universities and 100 for polytechnics and colleges of education.
However, institutions, including universities, have the liberty to raise their individual minimum points higher than the agreed benchmark.
Over the years, several universities have set their minimum benchmark around 180-200, with some also admitting students who scored 160 and above in the UTME.
While this shows that many students who score below could still stand a chance of getting admitted to some of their preferred universities, many Nigerians on social media have shown their displeasure over candidates’ performance.
Some of them described the result as ‘bad’ and ‘worrisome’ while also calling on the candidates to prioritise education.
Usman Mustapha is a solution journalist with International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: [email protected]. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M