The Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) has warned school heads against fraudulent registration practices ahead of the 2026 national examinations, saying institutions found manipulating candidate records will face disciplinary action.
UNEB Executive Secretary Dan Odongo said some schools have been registering private candidates as government-sponsored learners under the Universal Primary Education (UPE) programme, despite collecting examination-related fees from their parents.
Odongo said the schools then fail to remit the required fees to UNEB, resulting in financial losses to the government.
He described the practice as “corruption of the highest order” and warned school administrators involved in the scheme that they would be held accountable.
According to Odongo, cases of fraudulent registration have recently been detected in Zombo District.
He also cautioned schools against falsely declaring learners as having special educational needs in order to obtain additional examination support and privileges.
Odongo said some schools deliberately misrepresent candidates as having conditions such as dyslexia or low vision to secure additional examination time, transcribers and other forms of support.
He further accused some schools of misusing sign language interpreters by instructing them to interpret examination questions for candidates, rather than merely facilitating communication.
The UNEB chief said such practices have contributed to a sharp increase in the number of candidates registered under the special educational needs category, forcing the examination body to deploy additional personnel and incur extra costs.
“We are seeing schools that are deliberately misrepresenting learners in order to get examination privileges,” Odongo said, warning that UNEB would take action against institutions that violate registration guidelines.
The warning comes as UNEB releases the 2026 examination timetables for the Primary Leaving Examination (PLE), Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) and Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE).
The UCE examinations will begin with candidates’ briefing on October 8 and run until November 3.
PLE candidates will be briefed on October 30 before sitting their examinations on November 3 and 4.
At UACE level, candidates will have their briefing on November 7, with examinations continuing until December 5.
Meanwhile, UNEB provisional registration figures show that 1,627,885 candidates have registered for the three examination levels this year.
The figure represents an increase of 211,437 candidates, or 14.9 percent, from the 1,416,448 candidates registered in 2025.
Females account for 52 percent of the registered candidates, while males make up 48 percent.
UNEB said 52 percent of the candidates are government-sponsored learners under the universal education programmes.
A total of 6,090 candidates have been registered as learners with special educational needs.
Odongo attributed the overall increase in candidature to improved school completion rates, saying more learners are remaining in school and progressing to the next level of education.
The largest increase has been recorded at UACE, where candidature has grown by 22.5 percent, followed by UCE at 16.4 percent and PLE at 12.4 percent.
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