The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has disclosed plans to penalise 180 candidates for attempting to cheat during the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) mock exercise.
The mock exam, which held on Thursday across approved Computer-Based Test (CBT) centres nationwide, saw the participation of over 211,000 candidates.
JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, while monitoring the exercise in Bwari, Abuja, stated that results will be released on Friday, noting that the mock was designed to test JAMB’s readiness and introduce new strategies for the main examination.
“They will have the results tomorrow. The results will be ready. Those who finished, we are working now on their results, but we want to compare with the second batch, the third batch, and so on.
“And see that everything is working well. But later by tomorrow, they will have the results,” he said.
“The word is mock, and we want to say so far so good. What we want to do is to try some things. As students are getting wiser, we are also getting better.
“Because we are doing certain things to ensure that those things are done. So we are trying to make sure that when we go for the exam, we will have taken experience and taken some lessons from our experience at the Mock level. So, so far, so good,” he said.
Oloyede revealed that some candidates fell into a trap set by JAMB through a decoy website meant to catch those seeking exam malpractice services.
“We need to let the students know that the best way to pass the examination, UTME in particular, is to study.
“We are aware of some rogue websites asking people to come and pay that they can help.
“It cannot work. We have also opened our own rogue website. And as of this morning, about 180 students have paid.
“So those students, because to attempt to cheat is already an infraction. So those who paid into that account, looking for questions, we are going to deal firmly with them. And many of the institutions, UTME is not a school-based examination.
“We register students individually. And that is why we tell the students, do not give (out) your registration number. Do not register by proxy.
“Do not give your registration number to anybody. Because some of these schools want to be able to brag that, oh, my 10 students from my school scored 280.
“There was a state where even the governor of a state was misinformed, and they were celebrating nothing.
According to him, 180 candidates had already paid money to the fake site and will face strict penalties, including cancellation of both UTME and Direct Entry results.
“The best way to pass UTME is to study,” the Registrar said, warning candidates to avoid rogue websites and to refrain from giving out personal registration details.
“So this type of thing that people want to cut corners, we are abreast of all this. And we are doing everything possible (to stop it),” Oloyede said.
“We have about 180 of them. And we are going to deal with them firmly. We are going to cancel their results, both UTME and DE.
He advised candidates to steer clear of fraudulent websites and individuals claiming to offer assistance during the examination.
“Some of them are paying N30,000 for something that will never work. And to some, when I look at those who have paid to us this money, I smile,” he added.
The 2025 UTME is scheduled to begin on April 25 across accredited centres in the country.
