UACE 2025 exam results released — as it happened

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 UACE 2025 EXAM RESULTS 

Live reporting by Joseph Kizza
(Refresh this page to view updates)

📍State House, Nakasero
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 12:55 PM 

 END OF LIVE PAGE 

And that's it for today's live text commentary. Congratulations to all the candidates that have passed and to those who have not, don't lose hope. There is another chance to try again.

Good afternoon!
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 12:53 PM 

 BREAKING NEWS 

The Minister of Education and Sports and the First Lady, Janet Museveni, officially releases the results of the UACE 2025 exams.

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 12:52 PM 

Mrs Museveni congratulates the UACE candidates that have passed and urges those that did not to use the opportunity that they have to try again or to consider other education pathways. 

"Do not lose hope in your ability to succeed and have a productive future because it is possible," she urges.

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 12:50 PM 

'Aligned curriculum'

"Currently, we have an aligned curriculum being implemented, where excess and unnecessary content has also been addressed," says the First Lady.

"Furthermore, the teaching approaches have been aligned to the teachings at UCE so as to provide a smooth transition from the UCE."
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 12:49 PM 

'Nothing mysterious about sciences'

The First Lady says that while she fully recognizes the invaluable role of the humanities, she believes that STEM subjects are "the bedrock for industrial development and we are all concerned that they should keep going up".

The education minister goes on to say that while she believes the country has the capacity to absorb all candidates that have successfully made it out of secondary school, many of them don't seem to appreciate the opportunities available in the technical and vocational institutions.

She says she is particularly more impressed by the steady increase in the number of females taking on science subjects, upon the recognition that "there is nothing mysterious" about subjects like Maths and other science subjects. She hopes that there will be more female scientists in Uganda.

Mrs Museveni encourages parents and guardians to "step into their God-given role" of encouraging and nurturing their children to pursure such disciplines.

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 12:47 PM 

In her remarks, the First Lady and Minister of Education and Sports, Janet Museveni, applauds the board and staff of UNEB for "this achievement because UNEB has indeed successfully discharged its mandate to the expectations of the nation and on time".

"We also acknowledge with gratitude the decrease in dropout rates in all three examinations [PLE, UCE and UACE]," she says.

"I am pleased to note the rapid increase in candidature at the UACE examination level....this means that more of our learners are transitioning to tertiary levels of education, and this we must thank God for."

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 12:39 PM 

As he invites the First Lady to deliver her remarks, higher education state minister Dr John Chrysestom Muyingo urges all stakeholders to receive the UACE exam results with "maturity and responsibility".

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 12:33 PM 

 BREAKING NEWS 

UNEB hands over results to minister

The UNEB hierarchy, joined at the front by top education ministry officials, hand over the UACE 2025 exam results to the First Lady and Minister of Education and Sports, Janet Museveni.

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 12:30 PM 

Drop in exam malpractice

The UNEB executive director says cases of malpractice at UACE have remained low, adding that the results of candidates involved in wrongdoing will be withheld pending completion of investigations.

"Malpractice cases were reported from 47 out of the 2,452 examination centres, involving 351 candidates (0.2% of the total). The cases mainly relate to receiving assistance in Science Practical papers, possession of unauthorized materials, and impersonation," says Odongo.

We learn that UNEB is currently hearing the PLE cases and will begin hearings for UCE cases starting next Monday (March 16).
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 12:26 PM 

Challenges in sciences

In the science disciplines, performance continues to be affected by inadequate practical exposure, says Odongo.

We are told that the common issues include misinterpretation of experimental procedures, leading to incorrect data, failure to analyze or present data graphically, often due to non-uniform scales on the X and Y axes, difficulty in making deductions from observations, and errors in writing correct chemical equations.

"Candidates also continue to struggle with relating science concepts to real-life situations, and there is evidence that some teachers are skipping certain topics, for example in Physical Chemistry," says Odongo.

"A consistent challenge across all subjects is the failure of candidates to apply acquired knowledge to real-life situations." 
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 12:23 PM 

Challenges in humanities

So what's standing in the way of better performances?

"In the humanities, challenges persist, primarily due to poor interpretation of questions stemming from misunderstanding key concepts required for the expected responses," explains the ED.

"In History, for instance, candidates demonstrated inadequate analytical and evaluative skills, weak logical flow of content, and insufficient use of relevant examples.

"In Religious Education, application-based tasks, particularly those requiring candidates to connect teachings from the Holy Books to everyday life situations, continue to pose a consistent challenge."

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 12:21 PM 

Maths, Chemistry better done

The performance of candidates has shown notable improvements in Mathematics, Chemistry, Agriculture, Geography, and Economics," says UNEB executive director Odongo, adding that the other subjects with improvements include Biology and Literature in English.

"Significant declines" in performance were registered in Entrepreneurship Education, Christian Religious Education, Fine Art, and Physics. 

"Overall, grades in science subjects have improved markedly compared to the humanities," he says.

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 12:17 PM 

68.9% qualify for UACE certificate

It is revealed that an overall improvement in UACE performance in 2025 was registered compared to 2024 in terms of the number of Principal level passes, with a high percentage of 68.9% of candidates qualifying for the UACE certificate. 

"Under current regulations, a candidate requires a Subsidiary level pass in a Principal level subject to qualify," says Odongo.

"For university admissions to degree courses, a minimum of two Principal level passes has been the requirement. Based on this criterion, 113,291 candidates (68.6%) qualify for admission, compared to 92,273 candidates (65.5%) in 2024." 

He says this improvement aligns with the significant increase in entries for the 2025 examination, indicating that an additional 21,018 university places may be required to accommodate the increased number of qualifying candidates.

"In cases where admission to other tertiary institutions, such as TVET institutions offering diploma-level programmes, considers one Principal and two Subsidiary level passes, 145,129 candidates (87.9%) will qualify."

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 12:10 PM 

On the gender demographic, Odongo says that proportionally, female candidates outperformed their male counterparts at the principal level pass (A–E) in most humanities subjects, as well as in Mathematics, Physics, General Paper, Subsidiary Mathematics, and Subsidiary ICT.

But at the top level of A passes, the males scored higher than females in Mathematics and Sciences.

"Female entries in Sciences and Mathematics remain lower than those of males, reflecting the overall trend of fewer female candidates compared to males," says the executive director. 

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 12:06 PM 

In the release statement, Odongo says that 540 Special Needs Education candidates (274 males and 266 females) registered for last year's UACE examination, compared to 437 candidates (249 males and 188 females) the previous year.
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 11:55 AM 

Digging into the stats

Next up is UNEB executive director Dan Odongo to provide more details.

He reveals that 166,400 candidates registered for the 2025 UACE examination, compared to 141,996 candidates in 2024, representing an increase of 24,404 candidates (17.2%). 

Of those that registered, 72,764 (43.7%) were females and 93,636 (56.3%) were males.

Odongo says the number of examination centres for UACE increased by 197 (8.7%). And is from 2,255 in 2024 to 2,452 in 2025.

We also learn that the number of candidates who appeared for the examination was 165,172, compared to 140,884 in 2024, reflecting an increase of 24,288 candidates (17.2%). Of those who sat the examination, 72,374 (43.8%) were females and 92,798 (56.2%) were males.

"At this level, the number of female candidates has consistently remained significantly lower than that of male candidates," he says.
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 11:50 AM 

'Be resilient'

In his remarks, UNEB chairperson Obua congratulates all the candidates who have passed for their "humility and determination" and urges all those that fell short of expectations to be resilient and not give up on their academic aspirations.

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 11:49 AM 

Females getting better

Obua goes on to say that female candidates have continued to perform "commendably better" than their male counterparts. It's a trend he says affirms "the positive impact of continued investment in girl-child education".

He however is keen to add that subject clustering remains gendered, with a higher concentration of female candidates in the humanities than in the sciences. 

"The Board observes that broader participation of both male and female candidates in science subjects will enhance equity and balance across future professional fields."
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 11:47 AM 

'Humanities more popular than sciences'

Prof. Obua says the number of candidates who registered for the final exam but did not go on to sit the exam has continued to declined over the years, "signaling improved completion rates and strengthened supervision at the school level".

He also says the humanities continue to attract a larger proportion of candidates compared to sciences.

The UNEB chair says last year's UACE registered fewer cases of examination malpractice than the previous year.

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 11:45 AM 

So what's behind the sustained growth in candidature at the UACE level?

Obua points that to expanded access to post-O’Level education and growing public confidence in the credibility of national assessments. 
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 11:42 AM 

First up is the chairperson of UNEB, Prof. Celestino Obua. He says the UACE exams were successfully conducted between November 10 and December 5 last year.

We learn from him that in 2025, UNEB assessed a total of 1,402,434 candidates for certification across the three national examinations: Primary Leaving Examination (PLE), Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE), and UACE, representing an increase from 1,294,731 candidates in the year before (2024).

In specific terms, UACE candidature increased by 17.2%. Thet is a rise from 141,996 candidates in 2024 to 166,400 in 2025.

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 11:36 AM 

The officials have arrived and so the event has formally begun with anthems and prayers.

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 11:15 AM 

Any time from now. Hang in there.

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 10:47 AM 

'The wait is over'

And now the weight of expectation.....

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 10:40 AM 

🦋 Having butterflies?

Another Friday 13th is here!

Exactly 28 days ago — on February 13 — as the world warmed up for Valentine's Day, the students who had sat their Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) final exams the previous year eagerly awaited the release of their results. They would have been relieved to eventually discover that the majority of them had passed.

Here we are again. It's March 13 and it's the turn of those who sat their Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE) exams to experience the all-too familiar feeling of having butterflies in the stomach. Nerves. The release event is set to happen at State House Nakasero in Uganda's capital Kampala.

What typically happens is that the Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) hierarchy hands over the results to the Minister of Education of Sports, who currently is First Lady Janet Museveni. The minister then officially releases the results to the public.