As part of procedure for the conduct of the 2026 examinations, the Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) has released the timetable for the three sets of the examinations; Primary Leaving Examination (PLE), the Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE), and the Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE)
This years examinations will be conducted under the theme: Advancing Excellence in Assessment and Certification through secure, credible, inclusive and innovative processes
Addressing the Media in Kampala UNEB Executive Secretary Dan Odongo said the Examinations will commence on Thursday 8th October 2026 with the briefing of UCE candidates.
“The Primary Leaving Examination (PLE) will start on Friday 30th October 2026 with briefing, while the briefing for the UACE examination will be conducted from FridaytNovember 2026,”he stated.
He says this year’s UCE candidates form the 3rd cohort of learners to be assessed under the Competency Based Curriculum (CBC). The UACE candidates were the pioneers of CBC at lower secondary school level. This time, they will be assessed based on a Curriculum that has been aligned to the CBC and assessment modalities.
According to UNEB schedule commencement and End Dates for the 2026 Examination Series are as follows
Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) Thursday 8th October Tuesday 3rd November, Primary Leaving Examination (PLE) Friday 30th October Wednesday 4th November and 3 Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE) Friday 7th November Friday 5th December
Odongo has advised Heads of Centers to access timetables from their school portals.
“The Board has availed hard copies of the timetables along with the other stationery. Enough copies for all the UCE and UACE candidates have been printed, and therefore schools should ensure that every candidate receives a copy of the timetable, as part of the preparation process. The timetables should also be displayed on the school noticeboards for interested parties to access. The timetables will also be available on our website;www.uneb.ac.ug; as well as on our social media platforms @UNEBUG. Braille versions of the UCE, as well as UACE Timetables have also been provided for Special Needs Education (SNE) candidates with visual impairment,”he explained.
Display of candidates’ registers
The display of candidates’ registers, as required by the UNEB Act CAP 259, continues until7th October 2026. Article 4, Sub-Section 2 of the Act compels Examination Centers to display candidates’ lists, sixty days before the date for the commencement of the National Examinations. Heads of Centers are expected to display the candidates’registers in a conspicuous place at the school notice boards. The purpose of the display is to enable candidates to confirm their registration status as well as the correctness of their biodata.
“Candidates are advised to look out for correctness and order of names, date of birth,gender, resolution of the candidates’ photograph, as well as the subjects and papers registered for in the case of UCE and UACE candidates. After confirming registration status, candidates MUST sign on a parallel register to confirm correctness of the registration data,”Odong stressed.
The Board has registered a total of 1,627,885 candidates. This is an increase of 211,437(14.9%) compared to last year’s candidature of 1,416,448. Of these, 52% are females while 48% are males. 52% of the total candidature are sponsored by the government under the Universal Education programs for primary and secondary levels. Of the entire candidature, 6,090 are Special Needs Education (SNE) Learners.
At PLE level, candidature has increased from 818,885 in 2025 to 920,796 (12.4%).Percentage increase at UCE is at 16.4% with candidature rising from 432,163 in 2025to 503,214 in 2026. Once again, we have recorded the highest increase of candidature at UACE, from 166,400 in 2025 to 203,875 (22.5%) in 2026.
There is a sharp increase in candidature at all levels, which we may attribute to higher completion rates with more learners staying on in school and transitioning to the next level. Worth noting is the extremely sharp increase in candidature in the traditional Science subjects at UACE as seen below:
As a requirement under the Competency Based Curriculum, Continuous Assessment (CA) contributes 20% towards the overall achievement for every learner, while the End of Cycle contributes 80%. This is in addition to the Project score, which is a standalone.At the time of registration, the submission of CA scores was a major requirement. To date, CA score submission stands at 82%. This is therefore to inform the schools that have not yet submitted CA scores for Term II, Senior Four, that the final submission deadline is 30th September 2026. The Board will not grade any learners whose final CA and Project scores are not submitted in time.
Caution to Head Teachers who report non-existent SNE cases
It has come to the attention of the Board that there are some Head teachers, especially at primary level, who are reporting non-existent cases of Special Needs Education (SNE)candidates. Others, either deliberately or otherwise, misreport the type of disability of a candidate, mainly with cases of dyslexia and low vision. All these are meant to give such candidates extra time and possibly a transcriber. This gives the candidate an unfair advantage over the others. Sign Language Interpreters are being misused to the extent of being asked to interpret the examination questions. Additionally, this has led to a rapid increase in the number of SNE candidates, and consequently, the number of personnel that the Board has to deploy. We therefore caution on Heads of Centers to desist from this habit.
Caution against fake papers
As we approach the start of the examinations, scammers, purporting to have access to UNEB papers, will start to vend fake papers to scam gullible members of the public. We wish to caution teachers, parents/guardians against being fooled by these conmen.
Caution to Candidates
We wish to caution candidates against involvement in acts of indiscipline. Being a candidate does not put you over and above the school rules and regulations. UNEB does not condone indiscipline and will not in any way support candidates who may be suspended or dismissed due to involvement in acts of indiscipline. We also ask parents to provide parental guidance to their candidates to avoid any mishaps.
The Board has noted with concern that there are some School/Centers that presented candidates in 2025 but have not done so this year. A final check is being made and by 30th September the list will be published in the print and electronic media for parents and guardians to check.
The Board has discovered many government UPE schools that have registered private candidates under the Universal Primary Education programme. Whereas they have collected money from the parents/guardians, they have not remitted this money to UNEB. Government has therefore been defrauded.
