According to the most recent data released by the Uganda National Examinations Board (Uneb), more applicants have signed up for the 2025 national exams than did last year. According to a circular released on July 3 by Ms. Jennifer Kalule Musamba, the Principal Public Relations Officer for Uneb, 1,412,248 candidates have registered for the three sets of national exams thus far. “Provisional registration figures show that the total number of candidates stands at 1.4 million for all three levels following the conclusion of the first phase of late registration on June 30,” Ms. Kalule stated. This represents an increase of 103,250 candidates (7.3 percent) over the 1,308,998 candidates from the previous year.
719,721 (51 percent) of those enrolled are sponsored by the government through the Uganda Post O-Level Education and Training Program (UPOLET), Universal Secondary Education (USE), and Universal Primary Education (UPE). According to Ms. Kalule, registration is still available until the end of July, but there is a fee during this time. “To ensure that no one is left out, we urge center heads to make sure all potential students are registered. Until the end of July, amendments can still be submitted on the portal for free, she said. By the end of Term II, she further urged UCE center heads to gather and submit the Continuous Assessment results for both S3 and S4 students.Ms. Kalule responded, “It is a seven percent increment, so the numbers are within a normal percentage,” when questioned about the rise in candidates.
In order to discourage late registration and encourage timely deadline compliance, Uneb implemented a surcharge policy. Schools or private candidates who register after the official period are subject to a surcharge, which can range from 50% to 100% of the initial registration fee. Regularly missing deadlines puts an institution at risk of losing its Uneb center designation. The registration deadline was originally scheduled for May 31 but was later moved to June 30. Candidates paid Shs34,000 for PLE, Shs164,000 for UCE, and Shs186,000 for UACE during this time frame. A 50–100% surcharge will be applied to these fees for candidates who register between now and the end of July. Uneb issued a warning that after this time, no entries will be accepted.
