The Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Uganda (ICPAU) has called on students pursuing the Certified Public Accountants (CPA) qualification to stay focused on their studies rather than turn to gossip or blame when they don’t pass their exams.
ICPAU Chief Executive Officer Derick Nkajja made the appeal while releasing the August 2026 examination results in Kampala. He said professional accounting training demands discipline and commitment, and that the examination process exists to ensure only competent professionals enter the field.
Nkajja pressed students to build stronger communication skills and to treat one another with respect, empathy and openness to differing views, rather than resorting to gossip. He said the institute had noticed a pattern of students blaming others for poor results instead of owning their performance, and urged them instead to take responsibility, learn from setbacks, and keep building their skills as the profession evolves.
He also stressed integrity, honesty and reliability as core professional values — including qualities like punctuality and meeting deadlines — and encouraged unsuccessful candidates to treat the results as a chance to reflect and improve, rather than a reason to point fingers.
PAEB (Public Accountants’ Examination Board) Chairperson Nancy Amuge Owino reported that 6,711 exam scripts were submitted in the August 2026 diet, of which 2,281 were recorded as passes. Women made up the majority of candidates, submitting close to 58 percent of scripts.
Performance was uneven across the four exam levels: Level 1 and Level 4 both saw notable improvement, while Level 2 saw a marked drop in pass rate and Level 3 dipped only slightly.
A total of 130 candidates completed the full CPA Uganda qualification in this diet — up from 97 a year earlier — bringing the cumulative number of CPA Uganda graduates to 5,806.
According to examiners, recurring problems included insufficient preparation, difficulty applying technical knowledge in practice, weak exam technique, and trouble interpreting questions. Amuge encouraged candidates to study examiners’ feedback closely and make use of the institute’s student support programmes.
Of the candidates who passed, roughly a third were sitting the exams for the first time, and those aged 25–29 made up the largest share of successful candidates, followed closely by those aged 30–34.
ICPAU closed by encouraging unsuccessful candidates to use the results as a diagnostic tool — reviewing their preparation and technique before their next attempt.
