More than 113,000 students who sat the 2025 Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE) examinations have qualified for university admission, with an impressive 98.9% pass rate recorded — a notable jump from the 65.5% recorded in 2024.
The results, released by First Lady and Minister of Education Janet Museveni at State House Nakasero in Kampala on Friday, show that 113,291 candidates — representing 68.6% of the 165,172 who sat the exams — obtained the required two principal passes for university entry. When Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions are factored in, at least 145,129 candidates, or 87.9% of all who sat, qualify for some form of post-secondary education.
Science subjects bounce back
Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) executive director Dan Odongo highlighted a strong recovery in science subject performance, noting significant improvements in mathematics, chemistry, biology, agriculture, geography and economics. Mathematics entries rose sharply from 58,495 candidates in 2024 to 70,132 in 2025, while biology entries grew from 24,853 to 35,660.
The proportion of candidates scoring “A” in mathematics jumped from 3.6% to 12.9%, and biology from 1.1% to 5.9% — encouraging signs for Uganda’s STEM pipeline.
“Although enrolment in STEM subjects shows a gradual upward trend, deliberate multi-sectoral interventions will be required to achieve national targets in science, technology, engineering and mathematics,” Odongo said.
Girls outperform expectations
Despite accounting for only 43.7% of all candidates (72,764 compared to 92,798 males), female students punched above their weight. Some 72.8% of female candidates obtained at least two principal passes, compared to 65.3% of males. The percentage of passes at the upper levels — three and two principal passes — was also higher among females.
However, science subjects remain a stubborn gender gap, with physics recording the lowest female candidature of all subjects.
Vocational and arts subjects declining
Not all the news was positive. Entrepreneurship education, Christian religious education, fine art, history, and humanities subjects recorded noticeable declines in both candidature and performance. Entrepreneurship saw one of the sharpest drops, falling from 55,909 candidates in 2024 to just 30,245 in 2025, with its pass rate dropping from 65.2% to 49.5%.
UNEB also raised concern about students’ ability to apply classroom knowledge to real-life situations, noting that practical exposure remains a major challenge — particularly in the sciences.
Malpractice and withheld results
Examination malpractice remained relatively low, with 351 cases — just 0.2% of candidates — reported from 47 centres. The cases mainly involved possession of unauthorised materials and receiving assistance during practicals. Results for those candidates will be withheld pending investigations under the UNEB Act.
Additionally, 70 candidates from Uganda Government Upper Prison, Luzira sat the exams — up from 49 in 2024 — with 68 of them actually writing the examinations.
What this means for you
If you are among the 113,291 who qualified, government and private university admissions are expected to open shortly. Campusbee will keep you updated on KUCCPS application windows, private university deadlines, and scholarship opportunities.
