Uganda National Examinations Board

The Executive Director of the Uganda National Examinations Board, Dan Odongo, explaining the new grading system under the revised curriculum. #UACE2025

#UACE2025 Highlights

#UACE2025 highlights

The E.D.’s Statement also indicates that some candidates struggle to relate the knowledge acquired to real-life situations in their communities. Education must therefore go beyond the acquisition of knowledge to fostering creativity, productivity and problem-solving. Government is therefore reforming the curriculum through the @Educ_SportsUg and NCDC. I also call upon parents and guardians to step into their God-given role and remain actively involved in their children’s lives, remembering that education is a shared responsibility whose foundation is built within the family. As we release these results, I congratulate all the candidates who have performed well. I encourage the learners who may not be satisfied with their results to use the opportunity you have to try again, or to consider other education pathways. The most important thing is to remain positive and not lose hope in your ability to succeed and have a productive future. May God bless you all!

I am confident that our tertiary institutions, both public and private, have the capacity to absorb these learners. The good performance by girls is commendable and I congratulate them on this remarkable achievement. I am particularly impressed by the steady increase in the number of girls taking science subjects and that they have done very well. This demonstrates that there is nothing mysterious about Mathematics and Sciences; what we now need is continued encouragement and strong role models.

I am pleased to note the rapid increase in candidature at the UACE examination level over the last three years. From 109,486 candidates in 2023, the number rose to 140,888 in 2024 and now stands at 165,175. This shows that more learners are progressing to higher levels of education. We thank God for this progress.

Access your #UACE2025 Results via SMS

The First Lady and Minister of Education and Sports, Hon. Janet Kataha Museveni, has officially released the #UACE2025 examination results at State House, Nakasero.

ED DAN ODONGO "cases of malpractice at this level have remained low. In accordance with Section 5(2)(b) of the UNEB Act, Cap 259, the results of candidates involved will be withheld pending completion of investigations. Malpractice cases were reported from 47 out of the 2,452 examination centres, involving 351 candidates (0.2% of the total). The cases mainly relate to receiving assistance in Science Practical papers, possession of unauthorized materials, and impersonation. The Board is proceeding with the hearing of PLE cases and will commence hearings for UCE cases from 16th March 2026. #UACE2025

In the Sciences, performance continues to be affected by inadequate practical exposure. Common issues include misinterpretation of experimental procedures, leading to incorrect data, failure to analyze or present data graphically, often due to non-uniform scales on the X and Y axes, difficulty in making deductions from observations, and errors in writing correct chemical equations. Candidates also continue to struggle with relating Science concepts to real-life situations, and there is evidence that some teachers are skipping certain topics, for example in Physical Chemistry. Honourable Minister, as noted above, a consistent challenge across all subjects is the failure of candidates to apply acquired knowledge to real-life situations. Detailed reports on the performance of candidates in each subject will be prepared and sent to the respective schools. #UACE2025

The performance of candidates has shown notable improvements in Mathematics, Chemistry, Agriculture, Geography, and Economics. Other subjects with improvements include Biology and Literature in English. However, significant declines in performance were observed in Entrepreneurship Education, Christian Religious Education, Fine Art, and Physics. Overall, grades in Science subjects have improved markedly compared to the Humanities. In the Humanities, challenges persist, primarily due to poor interpretation of questions stemming from misunderstanding key concepts required for the expected responses. In History, for instance, candidates demonstrated inadequate analytical and evaluative skills, weak logical flow of content, and insufficient use of relevant examples. In Religious Education, application-based tasks, particularly those requiring candidates to connect teachings from the Holy Books to everyday life situations, continue to pose a consistent challenge. #UACE2025

Table 3 shows an overall improvement in performance in 2025 compared to 2024 in terms of the number of Principal level passes. A high percentage of 68.9% of candidates qualify for the UACE certificate. Under current regulations, a candidate requires a Subsidiary level pass in a Principal level subject to qualify. For university admissions to degree courses, a minimum of two Principal level passes has been the requirement. Based on this criterion, 113,291 candidates (68.6%) qualify for admission, compared to 92,273 candidates (65.5%) in 2024. This improvement aligns with the significant increase in entries for the 2025 examination, indicating that an additional 21,018 university places may be required to accommodate the increased number of qualifying candidates. In cases where admission to other tertiary institutions, such as TVET institutions offering diploma-level programmes, considers one Principal and two Subsidiary level passes, 145,129 candidates (87.9%) will qualify. #UACE2025

Proportionally, female candidates outperformed their male counterparts at the principal level pass (A–E) in most Humanities subjects, as well as in Mathematics, Physics, General Paper, Subsidiary Mathematics, and Subsidiary ICT. However, at the top level of A passes, male candidates scored higher than females in Mathematics and Sciences. Female entries in Sciences and Mathematics remain lower than those of males, reflecting the overall trend of fewer female candidates compared to males. #UACE2025

Special Needs Candidates A total of 540 Special Needs Education (SNE) candidates (274 males and 266 females) registered for the 2025 UACE examination, compared to 437 candidates (249 males and 188 females) in 2024.

ED DAN ODONGO A total of 166,400 candidates registered for the 2025 UACE examination, compared to 141,996 candidates in 2024, representing an increase of 24,404 candidates (17.2%). Of those registered, 72,764 (43.7%) were females and 93,636 (56.3%) were males. The number of examination centres for UACE increased by 197 (8.7%), from 2,255 in 2024 to 2,452 in 2025. The number of candidates who appeared for the examination was 165,172, compared to 140,884 in 2024, reflecting an increase of 24,288 candidates (17.2%). Of those who sat the examination, 72,374 (43.8%) were females and 92,798 (56.2%) were males. At this level, the number of female candidates has consistently remained significantly lower than that of male candidates. #UACE2025

Female candidates have continued to perform commendably better than their male counterparts, maintaining stronger performance grades at several subject levels in the Humanities and demonstrating lower overall failure proportions. This trend affirms the positive impact of continued investment in girl-child education. However, subject clustering remains gendered, with a higher concentration of female candidates in the Humanities than in the Sciences. The Board observes that broader participation of both male and female candidates in Science subjects will enhance equity and balance across future professional fields. #UACE2025

Prof Celestino Obua UNEB Chairperson "This year, the Board assessed a total of 1,402,434 candidates for certification across the three national examinations: Primary Leaving Examination (PLE), Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE), and Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE). This represents an increase from 1,294,731 candidates in 2024. Specifically, UACE candidature increased by 17.2%, rising from 141,996 candidates in 2024 to 166,400 in 2025, as will be detailed in the Release Statement. The Board continues to observe sustained growth in candidature at the UACE level, reflecting expanded access to post-O’ Level education and growing public confidence in the credibility of national assessments. As candidature expands, the Board remains mindful of its responsibility to safeguard standards, ensure comparability over time, and maintain fairness in assessment. While statistical fluctuations may arise as the candidate population widens, the integrity of grading standards has been maintained. Additionally, the proportion of candidates who registered but did not sit for the examinations has continued to decline, signaling improved completion rates and strengthened supervision at the school level. #UACE2025

Live: The official release of the #UACE2025 Examination Results at State House Nakasero. Watch the live proceedings on our YouTube channel. youtube.com/live/Vx1v_CkRI…

The wait is over! All is set for the official release of the #UACE2025 Examination Results at State House Nakasero. @Educ_SportsUg @UgandaMediaCent