Agency
The Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) has today released the Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) results, marking the first cohort to be assessed under the new lower secondary curriculum.
This group of candidates has endured a challenging academic journey since joining Senior One in 2020.
Their education began amid confusion over the curriculum rollout, characterized by inadequate teaching and learning materials and unprepared teachers.
Just months into their first term, the COVID-19 pandemic struck, leading to an unprecedented two-year school closure.
When schools finally reopened, many institutions were still uncertain about how to implement the new curriculum.
In some schools, the old curriculum remained in use until Senior Three, a situation confirmed by multiple independent studies and government reports.
Even after schools reopened, many teachers continued to struggle with delivering the competency-based curriculum.
Despite these challenges, the four-year education cycle has come to an end, and learners sat their final examinations.
Unlike previous years, this year’s final UCE results will be determined by two components: 80% from the final examination and 20% from continuous assessments conducted at the school level.
UNEB Executive Director Dan Odongo noted last year that, according to curriculum guidelines, no student can be graded or awarded a certificate unless their continuous assessment scores were submitted.
Parents will also notice a shift in the grading system, moving away from the traditional distinctions and credits.
UNEB has introduced an alphabetical grading system for O-Level exams, using grades A, B, C, D, E, O, and F—where A represents the highest achievement and F the lowest. Candidates who missed the exams will be marked with an X.
Meanwhile, this examination session also included a group of learners sitting for what has been termed a “transition examination.”
These are students who were studying under the old curriculum but did not sit for their exams in 2023.
This group includes those who failed, those who mixed up their papers for various reasons, and those who opted to retake the exams.
Education Minister Janet Museveni has noted that this will be the last opportunity for such candidates to sit the UCE exams under the old curriculum.
Records indicate that a total of 379,748 candidates registered for both the new and old curriculum examinations, conducted at 4,168 centers.
