UNEB ED Dan Odongo speaking to the media in Kampala on Wednesday.
The Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) has released the timetables for the 2026 Primary Leaving Examination (PLE), Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) and Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE), with a total of 1,627,885 candidates registered to sit the examinations.
The examinations will begin with the briefing of UCE candidates on October 8 and end with the UACE examinations on December 5. PLE candidates will be briefed on October 30, while UACE candidates will begin with briefing on November 7. UCE examinations will run until November 3, followed by PLE examinations, which will end on November 4.
This year’s candidature represents an increase of 211,437 candidates, or 14.9 per cent, compared with the 1,416,448 candidates registered in 2025. Females account for 52 per cent of the total candidature, while males make up 48 per cent. Government is sponsoring 52 per cent of the candidates under the Universal Education programmes at primary and secondary levels, while 6,090 candidates are registered as learners with special educational needs.
PLE candidature has increased by 12.4 per cent, from 818,885 candidates in 2025 to 920,796 this year. UCE candidature has risen by 16.4 per cent, from 432,165 to 503,214, while UACE has recorded the sharpest increase of 22.5 per cent, from 166,400 to 203,875 candidates.
UNEB attributed the growth to improved completion rates, with more learners remaining in school and progressing to the next level. The increase is particularly notable in traditional science subjects at UACE. Physics registration rose by 64.4 per cent, from 21,302 candidates in 2025 to 35,029 in 2026. Chemistry registration increased by 73.7 per cent, from 37,134 to 64,501, while Biology registration rose by 83.3 per cent, from 35,660 to 64,288 candidates.
The 2026 examinations will be conducted under the theme, “Advancing Excellence in Assessment and Certification through Secure, Credible, Inclusive and Innovative Processes.” The UCE candidates will form the third cohort assessed under the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC), while UACE candidates will be the first group assessed under a curriculum aligned with CBC and its assessment approaches.
UNEB Executive Director Dan N. Odong said the theme reflected the Board’s commitment to strengthening the quality and integrity of national examinations.
“The theme is UNEB’s undertaking to continually extend the boundaries of quality in its assessment processes leading to the award of its certificates,” Odong said. “In doing so, the issue of security through all stages of the assessment process is paramount as is credibility – stakeholders must have unshakable trust in the process.”
Odong said the examination process would also take into account learners with special educational needs by providing appropriate accommodations. Braille versions of the UCE and UACE timetables have been provided for candidates with visual impairment.
Heads of examination centres can access the timetables through their school portals, while hard copies have been distributed with other examination stationery. Schools have been directed to give each UCE and UACE candidate a copy and display the timetables on noticeboards. The documents will also be available on the UNEB website and its social media platforms.
Candidates’ registers will continue to be displayed until October 7, in accordance with the UNEB Act. Candidates have been asked to verify the spelling and order of their names, dates of birth, gender, photograph quality, and the subjects and papers registered for by UCE and UACE candidates. They must also sign a parallel register confirming the accuracy of their registration details.
The Board said schools should immediately report any errors or omissions to UNEB. Candidates who paid registration fees by the required deadlines but were not registered should also notify the Board through their school authorities.
UNEB said Continuous Assessment scores currently stood at 82 per cent. Under the CBC, Continuous Assessment contributes 20 per cent to a learner’s overall achievement, while the end-of-cycle examination contributes 80 per cent. Project scores are assessed separately. Schools that have not submitted Term II Senior Four Continuous Assessment and project scores have until September 30, 2026, to do so.
“The Board will not grade any learners whose final CA and Project scores are not submitted in time,” Odong warned.
The Board also cautioned head teachers against falsely reporting learners as having special educational needs in order to obtain extra examination time or other advantages. UNEB said some schools had misreported disabilities, including dyslexia and low vision, while sign-language interpreters had in some cases been misused to interpret examination questions.
Odong further warned parents, teachers and candidates against scammers selling fake examination papers. Candidates were also reminded that they remain subject to school rules and could face suspension or dismissal for indiscipline.
UNEB said it was conducting a final check on schools and examination centres that presented candidates in 2025 but had not registered any candidates this year. Their names are expected to be published by September 30.
The Board also raised concern over government primary schools that registered private candidates as UPE candidates, collected money from parents and failed to remit the funds to UNEB. Odong described the practice as corruption and called on district authorities to investigate the cases, recover the funds and take action against those responsible.
He thanked officials in Zombo District, including the Chief Administrative Officer and District Inspector of Schools, for helping uncover such cases and urged other district authorities to do the same.
UNEB also asked schools to follow Ministry of Education and Sports guidelines on teaching hours and ensure that learners have adequate time to rest before the examinations.
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