The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has announced the release of results for the 2026 Mock Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), conducted nationwide on Saturday.
In a statement issued on Monday, the Registrar, Ishaq Olanrewaju Oloyede, disclosed that candidates can access their results via SMS. He explained that candidates are required to send “MOCKRESULT” to either 55019 or 66019 using the same phone number used during registration.
According to the board, a total of 224,597 candidates registered for the mock examination, while 152,586 successfully sat for the test across 989 Computer-Based Test (CBT) centres nationwide.
JAMB further revealed that more than 20 CBT centres have been delisted due to technical shortcomings experienced during the exercise, noting that the affected centres failed to meet the required operational standards.
The board also issued a strong warning against fraudulent activities, particularly by individuals and groups on social media platforms who claim to manipulate examination scores.
It stressed that such claims are false and criminal, adding that any candidate found engaging in such practices risks cancellation of registration and possible withdrawal of results where infractions are detected.
JAMB reiterated that the mock examination is designed to assess candidates’ preparedness and familiarise them with the CBT environment, emphasizing that the scores obtained do not count towards the main UTME.
The board confirmed that the 2026 UTME is scheduled to commence on April 16, 2026, urging candidates to leverage insights gained from the mock exercise to improve their performance.
The announcement comes against the backdrop of controversies surrounding the 2025 UTME, which was marred by widespread technical glitches across 157 centres, leading to mass complaints from candidates.
Over 1.5 million out of 1.9 million candidates scored below 200, prompting concerns over system failures and incomplete examination questions.
In response, nearly 380,000 candidates were rescheduled for a retake, while investigations uncovered cases of technology-driven malpractice, including biometric manipulation and AI-based image morphing. This led to the cancellation of over 6,300 results.
The situation sparked nationwide outrage, with groups such as the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), the South East caucus of the House of Representatives, and civil society activists calling for the resignation of the JAMB Registrar.
Despite the backlash, Oloyede accepted responsibility for the challenges and publicly apologized, while the board maintained that the results reflected candidates’ performance and the effectiveness of its anti-malpractice measures.
