The Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) has extended the normal registration period for candidates intending to sit for the 2026 Primary Leaving Examination (PLE), Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) and Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE) examinations.
According to UNEB Executive Director, Dan Odongo, the extension is intended to accommodate newly accredited examination centres. Normal registration, which had earlier been scheduled to close earlier, will now run until June 30, 2026.
Odongo said late registration will begin on July 1 and close on July 31, 2026, warning that no candidate will be registered after the deadline. Late registration will attract a surcharge of 100 percent for PLE candidates and 50 percent for UCE and UACE candidates.
Late registration will be allowed until July 31, but it comes with heavy penalties—a 100% surcharge for PLE and a 50% surcharge for UCE and UACE. No registration will be accepted after July 31. Centres are strongly urged to register candidates early to avoid last-minute system congestion.
“Centres are urged to complete the registration process early within the period allowed to avoid the congestion that tends to occur towards the deadline,” Odongo said.
Government will continue paying registration fees for learners sponsored under Universal Primary Education (UPE), Universal Secondary Education (USE) and Universal Post O-Level Education and Training (UPOLET) programmes.
For privately sponsored candidates, the registration fees remain unchanged at Shs34,000 for PLE, Shs164,000 for UCE and Shs186,000 for UACE.
UNEB advised head teachers and parents to ensure candidates’ names are correctly captured as they appear on birth certificates or National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA) documents before registration.
For UCE candidates, UNEB noted that this year’s learners are the third cohort under the Competency Based Curriculum (CBC). Candidates are required to register for a minimum of eight and a maximum of nine subjects. Continuous Assessment (CA) scores and project scores will also be mandatory for certification.
Only candidates who sat PLE in 2022 or earlier and obtained grades one to four, or their equivalent, will be eligible to register for UCE 2026, provided they completed four years of lower secondary education.
Odongo further explained that candidates whose Continuous Assessment scores were already submitted to UNEB should not change names or optional subjects during Senior Four registration.
Regarding UACE registration, UNEB said this year’s candidates are the first group to transition from the competency-based assessment system at lower secondary level into the aligned UACE curriculum.
Only candidates who obtained UCE certificates in 2024 or earlier with grades one to four under the old curriculum, or Result One under the CBC system, will qualify to register for UACE 2026. They must also have completed at least two years of Advanced Level education.
UNEB clarified that repeaters who sat UACE in 2025 or earlier will not sit any transitional examination because the National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC) confirmed that the content framework of the aligned curriculum has not changed.
Candidates with foreign academic results will first be required to equate their results with UNEB before registration. UNEB will then issue them unique electronic registration codes.
The Board also warned examination centres against charging unauthorized fees and referring to them as UNEB fees, saying the UNEB Act provides severe penalties for offenders, including fines of up to Shs40 million, imprisonment not exceeding 10 years, or both.
Heads of centres were also cautioned against misappropriating examination registration fees or fraudulently registering privately sponsored learners as government-sponsored candidates.
UNEB said examination centres are required by law to display candidate registers on school noticeboards at least 60 days before the examinations commence. Candidates, parents and school administrators are expected to verify all registration details, including names, dates of birth, gender, photographs and subjects offered.
Additionally, UNEB announced that parents and candidates will be able to confirm registration status through an SMS system by sending the candidate’s full index number to 6600.
Odongo also reminded candidates that the use of erasable pens during UNEB examinations remains prohibited.
