By Leonard Kamugisha Akida,
NATIONAL
The Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) has released the timetable for the 2024 examinations.
According to the released timetable, this year’s national exams will commence on October 11 and end on December 6,2024. 
Speaking at the official release of the timetable, Dan Odongo, UNEB Executive Director said this year, UNEB will be conducting four distinct sets of exams (The 4Es), a departure from the previous three. These include the UCE Examination based on the NLSC, the UCE Transitional Examination based on the old curriculum, the Primary Leaving Examination (PLE), and the Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE). Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) exams (both old and new curriculum) will be the first series commencing on October 11 and ending on November 8, 2024 (NLSC) and 11th October to November 15, 2024 (Old Curriculum). Primary Leaving Examination (PLE) will commence on November 4, 2024 and end on November 7, 2024, while the Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE) will be conducted between 8th November to 6 December, 2024.
He noted that the transitional examination aims to offer candidates who either missed the 2023 exams or need to repeat an exam under the old curriculum (UCE) a chance to sit for their assessments.
“This will be the first time UNEB will be assessing candidates under the New Lower Secondary Curriculum (NLSC) for the Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE),” Odongo said before adding that the exam is a one time off exam under the old curriculum and no other opportunities for repeating these exams will be allowed to candidates.
A total of 1,320,400 candidates have registered to sit for this year’s the four major examinations compared to last year’s total of 1,224,371, representing an increase of 7.8% candidates. Of the registered candidates, 51.1% are female and 48.9% are male.
Breakdown of candidates for each exam serie
UACE: 142,017 candidates, showing a remarkable 28.4% increase from the previous year’s 110,579.
UCE (NLSC): 369,477 candidates, with an additional 10,143 for the transitional examination.
PLE: 798,763 candidates, marking a 6.6% increase from 749,371 in 2023.
UNEB further noted a significant increase in the number of special needs candidates who registered to sit for this year’s exams at all levels.
“Of the entire candidature, 4,498 are Special Needs Education (SNE) learners, as compared to 3,698 candidates who registered last year. The SNE candidates, include 3,295 (PLE), 760, (UCE- NLSC), 38 (Transitional UCE- Old curriculum);
and 405 (UACE). Uganda Prisons (Luzira Upper and Mbarara Main) have registered 108 Candidates (107 Male and 01 Female) for PLE; 39 for UCE (38 Male and 01 Female),” UNEB reported.
A total of 698,808 (53%), candidates expected to sit for these exams are funded by the government under the Universal Education Programs, while 621,592 (47%) are privately sponsored.
Accessing Timetables
UNEB said heads of centres can access the timetables for all four examinations through their school portals. However, hard copies have also been distributed to schools for distribution to candidate. Schools have also been directed to display timetables on school noticeboards for easy access.
For candidates with visual impairments, Braille versions of the UCE (Transitional and New Curriculum) and UACE timetables have been made available.
The UNEB Executive Director Dan Odongo warned against examination malpractice and cautioned the public to not falling prey of individuals on social media masquerading as UNEB officials to sale them fake examination question papers.
“The caution against malpractice. It is crucial to note that involvement in examination malpractice, even in a single paper, will result in the cancellation of the entire examination results. UNEB has explicitly outlined the types of malpractice that can lead to disqualification, cancellation of results, or even the arrest of a candidate,” Odongo cautioned.
He also urged heads of school to submit Course Work Assignments (CA) scores to UNEB before October 30.
“Continuous Assessment (CA) scores MUST be submitted to UNEB through the
school portal. The deadline for submission has been extended from 30th September – 30th October, 2024 to give ample time to schools to compile and submit the scores on the portal,” he said. ” Centers MUST NOT deliver the coursework assessment marks physically, by post
or by courier because they shall not be accepted.”
