The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has officially released the results of over 1.8 million candidates who participated in the 2026 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), providing the first major insight into this year’s performance nationwide.
The announcement was made by JAMB’s Public Communication Adviser, Fabian Benjamin, who confirmed that candidates who sat for the examination on Thursday, April 16, and Friday, April 17, 2026, can now access their results.
According to the board, candidates are to check their results by sending “UTMERESULT” via SMS to 55019 using the same phone number used during registration. The results will be delivered directly as a text message. Candidates who require a hard copy can also print their result slips through the official JAMB portal.
A breakdown of the performance statistics released by the examination body shows a familiar pattern in national outcomes. More than half of the candidates, about 50.3 percent, scored between 160 and 199, placing them within the average performance bracket. Another 25 percent scored between 140 and 159, while only a small fraction, approximately 0.6 percent, scored above 300, highlighting the continued competitiveness and difficulty of the examination.
The figures suggest that a significant number of candidates may still face stiff competition in securing admission into highly sought-after courses and institutions, where cut-off marks often exceed the 200 threshold.
JAMB also used the opportunity to issue a strong warning to candidates and the general public against fraudsters who exploit the admission season. The board cautioned against individuals or groups promising score upgrades or offering “special assistance,” describing such claims as fraudulent and criminal.
It stressed that any candidate found engaging in examination malpractice or attempting to manipulate results risks severe penalties, including outright cancellation of registration and withdrawal of results.
With the release of the results, attention is expected to shift to admission processes across universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education, as candidates begin to assess their chances and make strategic decisions regarding their preferred institutions and courses.
