Every year, millions of Nigerian students sit for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, hoping to secure admission into higher institutions across the country. Out of these candidates, only a few rise to the very top with exceptional performances that stand out nationwide.
From the beginning of the Computer-Based Test era in 2013 to the latest 2026 examination, JAMB’s official records have revealed the candidates who achieved the highest scores each year.
In 2026, Owoeye Daniella Jesudunsin from Ekiti State emerged as the top scorer with 372 out of 400. She chose the University of Lagos to study Medicine and Surgery. Closely behind her were Enwere Kingsley Ikenna with 370 and Bamisile Ayomide Emmanuel with 369.
The highest score ever recorded in the CBT era came in 2025 when Okeke Chinedu Christian from Anambra State scored 374. JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, described it as the highest UTME score recorded in more than a decade.
In 2024, three candidates shared the top position with identical scores of 367. They were Olowu Joseph Oluwasijibomi from Ondo State, Alayande David from Oyo State and Orukpe Joel Ehijele from Edo State. Their achievement came in a year when less than one per cent of candidates scored above 300.
A year earlier, in 2023, Umeh Kamsiyochukwu Nkechinyere from Anambra State scored 360 to emerge the best candidate nationwide. She was a student of Deeper Life High School, Mowe, Ogun State, and later received a scholarship from the Anambra State Government.
Adebayo Eyimofe Oluwatofunmi from Ekiti State topped the 2022 UTME with 362, while Monwuba Chibuzo Chibuikem led the 2021 examination with 358 before later studying engineering in the United States.
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One of the most remarkable performances came in 2020 when Maduafokwa Egoagwuagwu Agnes from Anambra State scored 365, a record that stood as the highest in the CBT era until it was broken in 2025. She later gained admission to Duke University in the United States to study Mechanical Engineering.
In 2019, Ezeunala Ekene Franklin scored 347 at just 15 years old, making him one of the youngest candidates to top the examination. The 2018 top scorer, Galadima Israel Zakari from Borno State, recorded 364.
Akingbulugbe Precious Ayomide emerged as the best candidate in 2017 with 353, while 2016 produced a tie between Akenbor Adesuwa Osarugue and Anonye Victory Emenike, who both scored 359.
In 2015, Ilukwe Lottachukwu Geraldine of Loyola Jesuit College, Abuja, scored 332 and later went on to study Law at the London School of Economics in the United Kingdom.
The earliest CBT-era top scorers were Onomejoh Princewill, who scored 299 in 2014, and Olise Israel Chukwunalu, who also scored 299 in 2013 during the first fully computer-based UTME. Both later studied medicine-related courses in Nigerian universities.
Over the years, these candidates have not only set academic records but have also gone on to excel in different fields across Nigeria and beyond, proving that strong performances in the UTME can open doors to global opportunities.
