Janet Museveni releases 2025 PLE results as UNEB reports rising examination malpractice

30 January 2026, 2:26 pm

By Ronald Ssemagonja

Following the successful conduct of the Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE) last year, the Minister of Education and Sports, Hon. Janet Museveni, today officially released the results. A total of 817,883 candidates sat for the examinations, compared to 797,444 candidates who sat in 2024.

While delivering his remarks, the Chairperson of the Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB), Prof. Celestino Obua, appealed for increased funding to enable the Board to effectively carry out its mandate. He also raised concerns over incidents of examination malpractice involving some school administrators and education officials.

Releasing the results, Hon. Janet Museveni reaffirmed government’s commitment to education, particularly Universal Primary Education (UPE).

“Most of the candidates are products of Universal Primary Education, and UPE will continue to play its role as a firm commitment by government. I take this opportunity to thank the people of Uganda. The dropout rate is reducing, and I am pleased that learners with special needs were able to sit UNEB examinations. We also applaud the Uganda Prisons Service for allowing inmates to acquire education,” the Minister said.

She further noted an improvement in performance, with more candidates attaining Aggregate One compared to 2024. She encouraged candidates who did not perform well to consider repeating in order to obtain certificates, urged local governments to plan adequately for UNEB activities, and called for accountability among teachers who are paid but fail to teach. She also announced that Senior One placement will be conducted on 12th and 13th February 2026, before officially releasing the results.

In his remarks, Prof. Obua expressed deep concern over increasing examination malpractice.

“In the matter of examination malpractice, the Board has witnessed increased desperation on the part of school owners and head teachers. In some cases, head teachers, working with compromised scouts, cut open examination envelopes to access question papers and assist candidates before or during the examinations. Evidence also shows that some district education officials are becoming complicit,” he said.

He added that the malpractice is largely driven by pressure on schools to produce candidates with Aggregate Four, which many parents consider the benchmark for ranking schools. Prof. Obua appealed for the reconsideration of result reporting methods, requesting the Minister to allow the Board to reintroduce a previously proposed reform for approval and implementation.

He also thanked Parliament’s Education Committee and the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development for the timely release of funds, congratulated candidates who passed, and encouraged those who did not to explore alternative opportunities.

Meanwhile, the Executive Director of UNEB, Mr. Dan Odongo, revealed that male candidates performed better than female candidates, and that English was the best performed subject.

“The Board registered 61 candidates from Uganda Government Upper Prison, Luzira, and 40 from Mbarara Main Prison. In line with Section 5(2)(b) of the UNEB Act, Cap 259, the Board will withhold results of affected candidates pending investigations,” Odongo said.

He added that most withheld cases were recorded in Kisoro, Kampala, Mukono, Namutumba, Kassanda, Buyende, and Kaliro, among other districts. Candidates implicated will be granted a fair hearing before the UNEB Tribunal makes final decisions. He also noted that Aggregate Four results were notably low this year.