1,000 candidates missed 2023 UACE exams

At least 1,065 candidates registered to sit the Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE) examinations missed, the Uganda National Examinations Board (Uneb) said.

The statistics represents a 0.9 per cent reduction in students that were absent as compared to 2022 where 1,333 candidates skipped UACE, according to 2023 UACE results released Thursday at State House, Nakasero in Kampala.

"It can be observed that there had been a trend of decline in registration, which, however, has been reversed in 2023,” Uneb executive secretary Daniel Odong noted.

The overall rate of absenteeism of candidates at UACE in 2023 has reduced by 0.5 percent over the last year," Odongo added. 

Meanwhile, analysis of the overall candidates' performance in the examination shows that a very high percentage of candidates (99.1 per cent) qualified for the award of the UACE, just as was in 2022.

"University admissions to degree courses have, up to date, been considering 2 Principal level passes as the minimum requirement. If this consideration is. Maintained, 80,643 (73.7 percent) qualify to be admitted, compared to 67,815 (70.3 percent) in 2022,”

Uneb emphasized that “this is consistent with the fact that there was better overall performance and a significant increase in entries for the examination in 2023.”

In cases where one Principal and two Subsidiary passes levels are considered for admission to other tertiary institutions, 90.7% of the candidates will qualify. This is better when compared to 2022 with 89.3%," Mr Odongo said.

The first two sets of the end of cycle examinations that is Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE) and Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) results have already been released.

A Total of 110,569 candidates registered for the 2023 exams of which 43 percent (47,227) are female and 57 percent (63,342) are males.