Record 1.32 Million Candidates Register for 2024 Uganda National Examinations
By Teddy Namayanja
A total of 1,320,400 candidates have registered for the 2024 Uganda National Examinations, marking a 7.8% increase from last year’s candidature of 1,224,371. This was announced by the Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) as they released the timetable for the 2024 examinations.
Of the total candidature, 51.1% are females while 48.9% are males.
Speaking at the official release of the timetable, Dan Odongo, UNEB Executive Director said this year, UNEB will be conducting four sets of distinct sets of exams (The 4Es), a departure from the previous three. These include the UCE Examination based on the NLSC, the UCE Transitional Examination based on the old curriculum, the Primary Leaving Examination (PLE), and the Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE).
“Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) exams both old and new curriculum will be the first series commencing on October 11 and ending on November 8, 2024). He said.
He noted that the transitional examination aims to offer candidates who either missed the 2023 exams or need to repeat an exam under the old curriculum (UCE) a chance to sit for their assessment.
“This will be the first time UNEB will be assessing candidates under the New Lower Secondary Curriculum (NLSC) for Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE)”. Odongo said.
Breakdown of Candidature
• Primary Leaving Examination (PLE): 798,763 candidates (6.6% increase from 2023)
• Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE): 379,620 candidates (4.1% increase from 2023)
• UCE-New Lower Secondary Curriculum (NLSC): 369,477 candidates
• UCE-Transitional Examination (Old Curriculum): 10,143 candidates
• Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE): 142,017 candidates (28.4% increase from 2023)
Special Needs Education (SNE) Learners
• 4,498 SNE learners registered, compared to 3,698 in 2023
• Distribution: 3,295 (PLE), 760 (UCE-NLSC), 38 (UCE-Old Curriculum), 405 (UACE)
Funding
• 698,808 candidates (53%) funded by the government under Universal Education Programs
• 621,592 candidates (47%) privately sponsored
New Developments
• First-time examination of NLSC candidates
• Introduction of new subjects: Ugandan Sign Language, Physical Education
• Assessment of listening and speaking skills for foreign languages (Latin, Arabic)
Caution against Malpractice
UNEB warned candidates against involvement in examination malpractice, emphasizing that it may lead to disqualification, cancellation of results, or arrest.
Display of Candidates’ Registers
• Ongoing until October 10th, 2024
• Candidates must confirm registration status and correctness of bio-data
Examination Dates
• UCE-NLSC: October 11th – November 8th, 2024
• UCE-Transitional: October 11th – November 15th, 2024
• PLE: November 4th – 7th, 2024
• UACE: November 8th – December 6th, 2024
Heads of centers can access the time table for all four examinations through their school portals. However, hard copies have also been distributed to schools for distribution to candidate. Schools have been directed to display time tables on school notice boards for easy access.
