UNEB candidates
HABARI DAILY I Kampala, Uganda I The Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) has issued a final reminder to schools that only three days remain before the registration of candidates for this year’s national examinations closes permanently.
In a notice released on Tuesday, UNEB said the final phase of registration for the 2026 Primary Leaving Examination (PLE), Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) and Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE) candidates will end on Friday, July 31, 2026, warning that no further registrations will be accepted after the deadline.
Jennifer Kalule, UNEB’s Senior Public Relations Officer, urged heads of examination centres to use the remaining time to register every eligible learner.
“We’d like to remind all heads of Primary Leaving Examination centres, Uganda Certificate of Education and Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education centres that the last phase for registering candidates this year will end on July 31, 2026, that is this Friday,” Kalule said.
She explained that the current registration window is the final phase and attracts surcharge fees for late registration.
According to UNEB, PLE candidates are required to pay Shs68,000, reflecting a 100 percent surcharge on the normal registration fee. UCE candidates will pay Shs246,000, while UACE candidates will pay Shs279,000, both attracting a 50 percent surcharge.
Kalule emphasized that the Board will not extend the registration exercise beyond the stipulated deadline.
“We’d like to emphasize that after July 31, we will not be in a position to register any more candidates for this year. This is therefore a final call to all heads of centres to ensure that they use the remaining time and register all eligible candidates for this year,” she said.
The warning comes after UNEB successfully completed the main registration exercise earlier this year before opening the surcharge phase to accommodate schools and candidates who had not finalized their registrations in time.
The Board has consistently advised school administrators to verify candidates’ biodata, subject combinations and other registration details before submitting them to avoid errors that could affect candidates during the examination process.
UNEB registered a total of 1,415,857 candidates for the 2025 national examinations across all three education levels (PLE, UCE, and UACE). This year, the number of registered candidates is likely to shoot up significantly.
Late registration has historically been offered as a final opportunity for schools that encounter administrative or financial delays. However, UNEB has maintained that once the surcharge phase closes, no additional requests will be entertained because the Board immediately begins compiling final candidate registers and preparing examination materials.
