The last batch of students to sit for the Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) under the phased-out old curriculum has recorded poor performance.
A total of 1,629 learners (16.7%) failed outright and nearly 60% passing in Division Four—the lowest grade.
The special one-time transitional examination, administered by the Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB), was a final opportunity for students who had previously failed or missed the 2023 UCE exams—the last officially scheduled under the old syllabus before Uganda transitioned to a competence-based lower secondary curriculum.
Of the 10,141 candidates who registered from 1,028 centers nationwide, only 80 (0.8%) passed in Division One, while 503 secured Division Two.
A total of 1,710 candidates attained Division Three, whereas the majority, 5,820 (59.7%), were placed in Division Four.
Another 1,629 learners (16.7%) failed, and 399 registered candidates did not sit for the exams.
Subject performance analysis revealed widespread weaknesses, with most students scoring the lowest passing grades—7 and 8—in nearly all subjects.
English was the worst-performing subject, with no candidate securing even a Distinction 2. Similarly, Art recorded no distinctions, raising concerns about students’ grasp of creative subjects.
Conversely, Islamic Religious Education and Commerce saw relatively better performance, with some students attaining distinctions.
Despite overall poor results, there was no significant gender gap in performance between male and female candidates. Among 44 registered learners with special needs, 43 sat for the exams.
Only one candidate managed to secure Division One, while five passed in Division Two. Ten students obtained Division Three, 23 passed in Division Four, and four failed the examination.
UNEB Executive Director Dan Odongo revealed that about 200 candidates were involved in examination malpractice, leading to their results being withheld.
The most common offenses included external assistance and impersonation. The affected candidates will be required to appear before the UNEB security committee for further investigation.
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