The Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) says 99.6% of candidates who sat the 2025 Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) examinations have qualified for the award, marking an improvement on last year’s performance.
Releasing the results on Friday at State Lodge Nakasero in Kampala, UNEB’s Executive Director, Dan Odongo, said 428,628 of the 429,949 candidates who sat the exams attained the minimum requirements for the certificate. This will be indicated as “Result 1” on transcripts and certificates.
“The percentage of candidates that do not qualify for the UCE certificate has dropped very significantly from 1.9% to only 0.31%,” Mr Odongo said.
Candidates who did not meet the full requirements will receive either “Result 2” or “Result 3”. Result 2 is awarded where a candidate did not fulfil all conditions for the award — for example, missing project work or continuous assessment scores, or sitting fewer subjects than required. Result 3 indicates that a candidate scored below the basic grade (E) in all subjects.
Rising candidature and improved attendance
A total of 432,163 candidates registered for the 2025 examinations across 3,975 centres, an increase of 72,746 (20.2%) compared with 359,417 in 2024.
Of those registered, 204,292 (47.3%) were male and 227,871 (52.7%) female. Some 154,642 candidates (35.8%) were beneficiaries of the Universal Secondary Education (USE) programme, while 277,521 (64.2%) were non-USE candidates.
UNEB reported that 429,949 candidates (99.5%) sat the examinations, compared with 357,120 the previous year. Only 2,214 candidates (0.5%) were absent, continuing a downward trend in absenteeism.
Gender performance patterns
The board noted that female candidates demonstrated stronger performance in English Language and Christian Religious Education. In other subjects — including History and Political Education, Geography, Mathematics, Agriculture, Physics, Chemistry and Biology — the proportion of males attaining exceptional and outstanding levels was slightly higher than that of females.
Prison schools record full qualification
All candidates from two prison-based schools qualified for the certificate.
At Uganda Government Upper Prison School in Luzira, 39 of the 40 registered candidates sat the examinations, and all 39 qualified. At Mbarara Main Prison Inmates’ Secondary School, all 12 registered candidates sat and qualified.
UNEB said the overall improvement reflects better compliance with examination requirements and growing participation in secondary education nationwide.
