Cambridge exams start, UNEB for Friday

By Conan Businge

Senior Four candidates are set to start their Uganda Advanced Certificate examinations this Friday.

This year, 295,472 Senior Four candidates are set to sit for Uganda Certificate of Education examinations, starting on October 11 and are slated to finalise on November 19, this year.

They will be followed by Primary Seven Candidates on November 1, and then Senior Six candidates on November 8, this year.

A total of 993,085 candidates are slated to sit for national examinations; at Primary Seven, Senior Four and Senior Six categories.

The number of candidates has shot up from 923,433 candidates who registered for national examinations last year.

This year, 581,586 Primary Seven candidates will sit for their Primary leaving Examinations. They will be expected to finalise their examinations on November 5.

More 116,027 candidates will sit for Senior Six national examinations.

Meanwhile, Cambridge International Examinations have also started in various schools in the country. They are done in twice a year; in October/November and then May/June.

A number of schools in the country doing the Cambridge International Examinations have by now received their results for the examinations which were done last year. In Uganda, some of the schools which sat for the examinations include Taibah College, Vienna College-Namugongo, Galaxy International School, Hanna Mixed School-Nsangi, and Aga Khan High School.

Matthew Okumu, the deputy in-charge of academics at Vienna College says that the examinations started off well with no hitches. “We started off well and we expect the process to proceed uninterrupted. We prepared the students and we expect them to finalise their examinations well,” Okumu explained.

Today, some students did their English examinations in most school doing Cambridge examinations, and most schools will tomorrow (Wednesday) do their mathematics papers.

Cambridge International Examinations is the world’s largest provider of international education programmes and qualifications for 14 to 19 year-olds.

In Uganda, the British Council is one of the regulators, mandated to conduct these examinations. They offer CIE examination services to both independent candidates and to schools and private colleges that are registered with us as British Council CIE.

Cambridge International Examinations are recognised internationally, helping scholars access both overseas and local higher education opportunities. The IGCSE and GSE examinations are an internationally recognised qualification for students in both O and A-level. It is similar to GCSE of England, Wales and Northern Ireland.  

The Cambridge examination certificate is an international alternative to many popular national curricular, and in Uganda, many schools most especially international ones have embraced the international examinations, with some wholly doing Cambridge examinations and others offering both UNEB and Cambridge as well.

Vienna College Namugongo is one of the international schools in Uganda that are wholly doing Cambridge international examinations.

According to the school’s director of studies Mathew Okumu Ongwen, the school last had its UNEB class in 2009. “This is because most students were opting to do Cambridge examinations other than those set by Uganda National Examinations Board.”

At Taibah International School, Nicholas Gombe, a communications officer at the school says they are also set to the examination period.