Atleast 99.6% of students who sat for the 2025 Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) passed according to Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) results released by First Lady and Minster for Education Janet Museveni at State House Nakasero.
UNEB Executive Director Dan Odongo said performance in 2025 had improved compared to 2024.
According to him a total of 432,163 candidates registered for the examinations, representing a 20.2% increase from the 359,417 registered in 2024. Absenteeism also declined to 0.5%.
However the percentage of candidates who did not qualify for a certificate dropped from 1.9% in 2024 to 0.31% in 2025.
“These outcomes will be indicated on candidates’ transcripts as either Result 2 or Result 3, defined as follows: Result 2: Indicates that a candidate did not fulfil all the conditions for award, for example: missing a project score; sitting for fewer subjects than required; or lack of Continuous Assessment (CA) scores. Result 3: Indicates that a candidate scored below the basic level (Grade E) in all subjects,” Odongo said.
UNEB reported improvement in Science subjects, with more candidates attaining grade C and above compared to the previous year.
Odongo noted that the number of candidates failing to reach at least grade D in the Sciences had reduced significantly.
According to UNEB, some candidates struggled to link scenarios to practical problem-solving and creative thinking, which are key aspects of the CBC approach.
Accordinh to UNEB,female candidates made up 52.7% of total registrations in 2025, marking the first time they formed the majority of the cohort.
Data shows that girls performed better in several humanities subjects, including English Language and Christian Religious Education. In English, 3.57% of female candidates attained Grade A compared to 2.44% of males.
While male candidates recorded slightly higher performance in some Science and Technical subjects. In Physics, 1.01% of boys attained Grade A compared to 0.55% of girls. In Mathematics, 1.89% of males achieved Grade A, compared to 1.10% of females.
All 51 inmates who sat for the examinations from Luzira and Mbarara Main Prisons qualified for certificates.
Odongo advised schools to access the results through their examination centre portals.
“Candidates and parents may also check results via SMS by typing “UCE” followed by a space and the candidate’s full index number, and sending it to 6600 on MTN or Airtel networks,”he stated.