By Johannah Nantongo
More than 203,000 candidates are today expected to sit the 2026 Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE) examinations.
As the exams start, government and education stakeholders have warned schools against examination malpractice that threatens the credibility of academic qualifications.
As candidates begin their examinations, the Ministry of Education and Sports has urged school administrators, teachers and parents to prioritise learners’ acquisition of practical skills and competencies rather than pursuing grades through fraudulent means.
Mr Timothy Ssejjoba, the Commissioner for Higher Education in the Ministry of Education, said it would be a disservice to the country if institutions of higher learning admitted students whose good grades had been obtained through examination malpractice.
He warned that some private schools had turned academic performance into a marketing tool, creating pressure to obtain good grades at all costs.
“I am aware that in private schools, student performance is a marketing tool, and if they don’t get what is labelled as good grades, there are issues. When students are seen to be doing well, the school is able to attract more students. Good grades should be worked for. We condemn anybody who is involved in examination malpractice,” Mr Ssejjoba said.
He called on stakeholders in the education sector to embrace the intentions of the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC), saying the focus should shift from marks to what learners can demonstrate and apply in real-life situations.
He said learners should be equipped with the ability to think critically, solve problems and apply knowledge rather than simply memorising information to pass examinations.
“If we focus on grades, some of which are acquired through cheating, and forget about competencies, then we are not supporting competence-based education and training. Learners should be engaged in a way that gets them to think and acquire competencies,” he said.
According to the Uganda National Examinations Board (Uneb), 203,809 candidates have registered for this year’s UACE, representing a 22.4 per cent increase from the 166,400 candidates who registered last year.
Of the registered candidates, 106,361 are male, representing 52 per cent, while 97,448 are female, accounting for 48 per cent.
Uneb spokesperson Jennifer Kalule said 41 candidates are inmates at Upper Prison Secondary School in Luzira, Kampala, comprising 40 males and one female.
The examinations will run until November 26, with candidates sitting papers in various subjects, including History, Principal Mathematics, Economics and Chemistry, before proceeding to local languages and other disciplines.
The 2026 UACE candidates are the first cohort to have undergone the Competency-Based Curriculum throughout their lower secondary education. They sat their Uganda Certificate of Education examinations in 2024 under the new competency-based assessment model.
Ms Kalule said that although the UACE curriculum had not been fully overhauled, the examinations had been aligned with the competency-based approach as guided by the National Curriculum Development Centre.
The examinations are being conducted under the theme: “Advancing Excellence in Assessment and Certification through Secure, Innovative and Inclusive Processes.”
Ms Kalule acknowledged that examination malpractice remained a challenge to the national examinations body and urged members of the public to report suspected cases to protect the integrity of the examinations.
Her warning comes against the backdrop of last week’s arrests of several officials, including teachers, school directors, scouts and invigilators, over alleged involvement in malpractice during the Primary Leaving Examinations.