HABARI DAILY I Kampala, Uganda I The Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) has released the 2025 Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education results, revealing that female candidates proportionally outperformed their male counterparts despite males making up the majority of candidates.
The results, announced today at State House Nakasero by the Minister of Education and Sports, Janet Kataaha Museveni, also showed a significant improvement in overall academic performance, with a record 68.6 percent of candidates qualifying for university admission.
According to UNEB Executive Director Dan Odongo, a total of 166,400 candidates registered for the 2025 examinations, an increase of 17.2 percent from the 141,996 candidates registered in 2024.
Absentees falls
Of those registered, 165,172 candidates eventually sat the examinations, reflecting a slight reduction in absenteeism from 0.8 percent in 2024 to 0.7 percent this year. Female candidates accounted for 72,764 (43.7 percent) of the registered candidates, while 93,636 (56.3 percent) were male.
Despite their lower numbers, females performed better proportionally at most pass levels.
“The percentage passes at the upper levels — three principal passes (3P) and two principal passes (2P) — are higher among female candidates, while the percentage passes at the lower levels and the failure rate among female candidates are lower than for the males,” Odongo said.
The statistics indicate that 41.7 percent of candidates achieved three principal passes, while 26.9 percent secured two principal passes and 19.3 percent obtained one principal pass. Another 11 percent attained a subsidiary pass, leaving only 1.1 percent failing to qualify for the UACE certificate.
Overall, 113,291 candidates who sat the examinations obtained at least two principal passes, making them eligible for admission to university degree programmes. This represents 68.6 percent of the total candidates who sat the exams, compared with 65.5 percent in 2024 when 92,273 candidates qualified for university.
For other tertiary institutions such as technical and vocational education and training colleges, where the minimum requirement is one principal pass and two subsidiary passes, a total of 145,129 candidates — representing 87.9 percent — qualify for admission.
UNEB data shows that female candidates performed particularly well in Humanities, Languages, General Paper, Mathematics and Information and Communication Technology (ICT). Their strong performance in these subjects contributed to their overall better proportional results compared to male candidates.
Sciences sit better with male candidates
However, male candidates continued to dominate the highest grade level in several science subjects.
“At the top level of A passes, the males scored better than the females in Mathematics and the Sciences,” Odongo said, attributing this to the continued gender imbalance in the number of candidates who register for science subjects.
Although female participation in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects has been increasing in recent years, it still trails that of male candidates.
The 2025 results also reflect a broader expansion in the country’s post-secondary education pipeline. Odongo noted that the number of candidates sitting the UACE examinations has increased dramatically since the COVID-19 pandemic.
“In the post-COVID period, the rate of increase in candidature sitting the exam has been quite rapid, rising from 96,557 in 2022 to 165,172 in 2025 — a 71 percent increase,” he said.
The number of examination centres also increased from 2,255 in 2024 to 2,452 in 2025, enabling more students to access examination facilities closer to their schools.
Despite the overall improvement in performance, UNEB noted that some challenges persist. Many candidates continue to struggle with applying scientific knowledge in practical situations and demonstrating analytical and evaluative skills in humanities subjects.
Exam thieves reduce
Examination malpractice remained minimal, with only 351 cases recorded across 47 centres, representing about 0.2 percent of the candidates who sat the exams.
UNEB said investigations into the suspected cases are ongoing and results for the implicated candidates will remain withheld until the process is completed.
Candidates and parents can access the results through their schools or by sending an SMS with the candidate’s index number to the official UNEB results service. Education stakeholders have also been urged to strengthen career guidance and mentorship programmes to support students transitioning to higher education and professional training.
