NATIONAL
The 2025 Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) examinations have marked a historic improvement in candidate performance, with 428,628 students (99.69%) qualifying for the certificate, compared to 98.1% in 2024. Only 0.31% of candidates failed to qualify, a sharp decline from 1.9% the previous year.
Examination malpractice remained minimal, with just 63 cases reported, mostly in Mathematics and practical science papers. Investigations revealed that some candidates had been given experimental results by teachers, but discrepancies between designs and recorded outcomes exposed the malpractice.
Under the Competency-Based Assessment (CBA) framework, results are categorized as:
Result 1: Full qualification for the UCE certificate.
Result 2: Incomplete requirements (e.g., missing project or CA scores).
Result 3: Scoring below Grade E in all subjects.
Candidate participation also rose significantly, with 432,163 registered from 3,975 centres, a 20.2% increase from 2024. Attendance was strong, with 99.5% present and absenteeism continuing to decline.
Gender distribution showed 227,871 females (52.7%) and 204,292 males (47.3%), while USE beneficiaries accounted for 35.8% of candidates.
The results, derived from a balanced system of Continuous Assessment (20%) and End-of-Cycle exams (80%), highlight the success of the competency-based curriculum in raising achievement levels and reducing dropout rates.
