UTME: Students need support not blame, psychologists tell parents

Seasoned mental health professionals have stated that students affected by the glitches and mass failure in the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination need counselling support and reassurance, not blame.

They noted that the situation experienced during the exams and with the results have left many students devastated, with some expressing feelings of hopelessness and failure.

They warned that without timely psychological intervention, some candidates could spiral into depression or suicidal ideation, as witnessed in a recent tragic case involving a teenage girl who reportedly took her life after receiving poor UTME results.

The psychologists further called for a comprehensive review of the current exam system in Nigeria, stating how a lack of systemic support, poorly structured exam schedules, digitalisation challenges, and insufficient parental involvement have created overwhelming stress for students.

In separate interviews ,the experts criticised the rushed exam resit timelines, poor digital infrastructure and logistics, and a lack of support systems that leave students vulnerable, asserting that the students should not be blamed for the glitches.

The psychologists advocated a more empathetic, data-driven, and streamlined approach to exam administration, along with greater psychological support for students.

The UTME is a critical prerequisite for admission into tertiary institutions in Nigeria. It tests candidates in four subjects, including the compulsory Use of English, with the other three drawn from their proposed field of study.

reports that the 2025 UTME, which took place from April 24th to May 5th, 2025, and the results were released on May 9.

The result showed that 1.5 million candidates who sat for the exam scored below 200 out of the maximum 400 marks, indicating a dismal pass rate.

Following widespread complaints from students, teachers, school administrators, and parents, the Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, Prof Ishaq Oloyede, admitted that technical glitches had affected the scores of some candidates in the just-concluded UTME.

The mass failure has sparked blame from many parents, guardians, and educationists, some of whom accused students of underperforming due to excessive time spent on social media and overreliance on artificial intelligence tools for learning.

Commenting on the matter, a Clinical Psychologist at the Department of Psychiatry, Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Idi-Araba, Juliet Ottoh, stated that students whose results were affected by the glitch should not be blamed for the system failure.

She stated that such students needed supportive psychotherapy to ensure they understood that the fault was not theirs and prevent them from dealing with emotional trauma that could lead to long-term mental health consequences.

Ottoh further noted that due to the large number of students affected many of the students may not be able to get professional counselling therapy, urging parents, guardians and teachers to provide such services to prevent the students from feeling disappointed in themselves.

The psychiatrist also stated that the country still lacked adequate technological infrastructures that would ensure the smooth conduct of examinations online.

She said, “If we can upgrade our system to ensure we get it right and the system is not to blame for any errors or failures, that would be better. But I don’t think we’ve gotten to that point where external examinations should entirely be placed on CBT.”

Ottoh called on JAMB to ensure better preparedness and reassure the public that better measures would be put in place to prevent a recurrence of the last exam.

The clinical psychologist advised students and parents, “What we don’t have control over, we don’t have power over it. What they have power over is to study and go for the exam.

“If there are glitches in the system, they don’t have the power to regulate it. So, they should just put in their best, study, prepare for the exam, and let’s see what the system has in place for them. Parents should support their children, JAMB should improve on their technology.”

For her part, a Developmental Child Psychologist & Clinical Director at Nuture Child Development Clinic, Mabel Okereafor, stated that preparing and passing a major examination like UTME was like a major life event that could make one anxious and stressed.

She noted that the pressure from parents, peers and school further increased the desire to succeed and move to the next level.

The developmental child psychologist, however, noted that factors such as inadequate preparation, lack of proper sleep and support system, loss of appetite, poor self-esteem and the distance to the examination venues could affect such students’ performances.

Okereafor said, “So as a nation, I think we can do better in terms of streamlining the process. Before you want to go digital, the process itself should be streamlined. Why should the child have to leave their state of residence to go and write exams in a far place and put their lives at risk, being disconnected from family and all of those things? I don’t think that’s being properly thought out.

“I would expect that digitalising the platform is one of those instruments and strategies that we may be looking at to minimise such occurrences. Then we’re talking about glitches and all of those things happening. We need to re-evaluate that process and see how we can streamline it. When we streamline that process, we get the children to write the exams in their environments. If we say we want to go digital, it can be done.

“So as a nation, if we are serious about these things and we want children to do well, the timelines, the structure, the support system that we have put in place for children to do exams and to succeed in those exams, I don’t think we’ve done that.”

She urged parents to provide support and build the resilience of their children during examination periods.

“As parents, we need to begin to look at how to build their resilience, how to help children understand that exams are not an end in themselves, that even when you fail an exam, your life must not end.

“As families, as parents, as school counsellors, we need to always reiterate those things and step back on that pressure that we put on children and make them feel like once they fail an exam, that’s the end of the world. So children need to hear that frequently,” the child psychologist said.

She also advised parents to provide psychological therapy for children susceptible to anxiety, depression or suicide for failing an examination, explaining that such children needed extra counselling and support.