UNEB’s Odongo speaking during the release of the exams at Nakasero
HABARI DAILY I Kampala, Uganda I About 98.8 percent of candidates who sat for 2024 Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE) examinations passed, the examinations body has revealed.
The Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) said that compared to the 99.2% in 2023, this shows a slight reduction in performance.
In terms of failure rate, however, a total of 1,632 candidates failed the exam, compared to 865 in 2023.
Releasing the results at State Lodge Nakasero on Friday March 14, 2025, Daniel Odongo, the UNEB Executive Director said that 140,888 candidates out of 141,996 who registered for the UACE turned up for the final examinations.
In a clear show of good performance, the UNEB boss said that of those who sat for the exam, 139,256 candidates qualified for the UNEB UACE certificate after achieving at least a subsidiary pass in a principal subject.
“In terms of overall performance, 54,338 candidates attained three principal passes, which is the highest possible achievement,” he said, adding that this was followed by 37,985 who passed with two principal passes, 29,233 who attained one principal pass, and 17,750 who got one subsidiary pass.
Candidates for University
UNEB also reported that 92,274 candidates who passed the examination qualify to join universities, after having procured the required two principal passes as the minimum qualification.
This however means that an additional 11,457 university places should be availed to cater for the increasing numbers.
Said Odongo: “In case this requirement is maintained, up to 92,273 candidates or 65.5% qualify for university admission, This is as compared to 80,816 or 73.8% in the year 2023.”
Females floor males
UNEB further reported that female candidates once again demonstrated stronger academic performance than their male counterparts in the 2024 UACE exams, despite being fewer in number.
Female candidates particularly excelled in humanities subjects, achieving higher percentages of principal passes at the A and E levels.
In contrast, male candidates showed marginally stronger results in some science subjects, though the overall trend favored female performance.
“The A to E column for females, the percentages are better than those of the males, particularly in the humanities,” Odongo explained.
Sciences candidates drop
UNEB also noted that despite the positive pass rates, there is a notable fall in the number of students pursuing science subjects at the UACE level, adding that there is need for increased university places to accommodate the growing number of qualified candidates.
Unveiling data on special needs candidates and inmates, UNEB said there was a drastic improvement in their performance.
“Our records show that about 437 special needs candidates registered for the examination, and all 48 inmates from Uganda Government Upper Prisons who sat for the examination qualified for the UACE certificate.”
