More than 113,000 candidates have qualified for university admission after the Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) released the 2025 Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE) results.

A total of 166,400 candidates registered for the 2025 examinations compared to 141,996 in 2024, representing an increase of 24,404 candidates or 17.2 percent. Of those registered, 165,172 candidates sat for the examinations, including 72,374 females and 92,798 males.

Speaking during the official release of the results in Kampala, the Minister of Education and Sports, Janet Museveni, urged parents and guardians to take a more active role in shaping the future of their children.

“Parents and guardians, I intentionally call upon you to embrace your God-given roles, be present and actively involved in your children’s lives. Play a key role in nurturing your children,” she said.

She emphasised that education should not only focus on knowledge acquisition but also equip learners with practical skills to address societal challenges.

“Education must not be about the acquisition of knowledge per se, but about how knowledge helps us to be creative, productive, and able to find solutions to the problems in our communities and country,” she said.

The First Lady also expressed gratitude for the learners who successfully completed the three national examinations in 2025.

“We thank God for 1,402,434 of our children who completed the three levels of our basic and secondary education,” she said.

According to UNEB Executive Secretary Dan N. Odongo, female candidates continued to outperform their male counterparts overall, particularly in Humanities subjects.

“Female candidates have continued to perform commendably better than their male counterparts, maintaining stronger performance grades at several subject levels in the Humanities and demonstrating lower overall failure proportions,” Odongo said.

However, he noted that male candidates still dominated the highest grade A passes in Mathematics and Science subjects, partly because more male students register for those subjects.

“There is still a higher concentration of female candidates in the Humanities than in the Sciences. Broader participation of both male and female candidates in Science subjects will enhance equity and balance across future professional fields,” he added.

Performance analysis released by UNEB shows improvement in several subjects including Mathematics, Chemistry, Agriculture, Geography, Economics, Biology and Literature in English. However, declines were recorded in Entrepreneurship Education, Christian Religious Education, Fine Art and Physics.

Examiners reported that in Science subjects, some candidates struggled with practical experiments, interpretation of data, drawing conclusions from observations and writing correct chemical equations. Limited practical exposure and misunderstanding of experimental procedures were also cited as major challenges.

In Humanities subjects, examiners observed difficulties in interpreting questions and applying theoretical knowledge to real-life situations. In History, for instance, many candidates displayed weak analytical skills and failed to provide relevant examples, while Religious Education candidates struggled to apply teachings from sacred texts to contemporary issues.

UNEB said 113,291 candidates, representing 68.6 percent, obtained the minimum requirement of two Principal passes needed for admission to degree programmes. This is an increase from 92,273 candidates (65.5 percent) who qualified for university admission in 2024.

Odongo noted that the rise in qualifying candidates could require additional university spaces.

“This improvement aligns with the significant increase in entries for the 2025 examination, indicating that an additional 21,018 university places may be required to accommodate the increased number of qualifying candidates,” he said.

For diploma programmes in Technical and Vocational Education and Training institutions, candidates require at least one Principal pass and two Subsidiary passes. Under this category, 145,129 candidates, representing 87.9 percent, qualify for admission.

The Chairperson of UNEB, Celestino Obua, said the Board assessed a total of 1,402,434 candidates across the three national examinations — Primary Leaving Examination, Uganda Certificate of Education and UACE — in 2025, up from 1,294,731 candidates in 2024.

“As candidature expands, the Board remains mindful of its responsibility to safeguard standards, ensure comparability over time and maintain fairness in assessment,” Obua said.

He added that the number of candidates who register but fail to sit examinations continues to decline, reflecting improved supervision and completion rates in schools.

Meanwhile, UNEB reported relatively low cases of examination malpractice. A total of 351 candidates, representing 0.2 percent of the total candidature from 47 examination centres, had their results withheld over suspected malpractice.

According to Odongo, the cases mainly involved candidates receiving assistance during Science practical examinations, possession of unauthorised materials and impersonation.

UNEB said investigations into the suspected malpractice cases are ongoing and hearings will begin for some examinations in the coming days.

The release of the 2025 UACE results clears the way for thousands of successful candidates to pursue university and other tertiary education opportunities across the country.

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The Office of the Directorate of Public Prosecutions has asked the High Court of Uganda to conceal the identities of six key witnesses expected to testify in the ongoing treason trial involving opposition figure Kizza Besigye.

In a Notice of Motion filed before the Criminal Division of the High Court in Kampala, prosecutors requested permission to protect the witnesses by allowing them to testify under pseudonyms and delaying the disclosure of their identities until shortly before they take the stand.

According to the application, the prosecution wants the six witnesses to appear in court using the pseudonyms “Witness A, B, C, D, E and F,” with their real identities concealed from the public record in all proceedings related to the case.

“The concealment of the identities and non-disclosure of any material that is likely to reveal the identities of six prosecution witnesses prior to their testimonies in court is necessary,” the application reads in part.

Prosecutors further asked the court to allow disclosure of the witnesses’ evidence to the defence within seven days before each of them testifies.

The application is supported by an affidavit sworn by Joseph Kyomuhendo, a Chief State Attorney in the DPP’s office and a member of the prosecution team handling the case. In the affidavit, Kyomuhendo told the court that the witnesses are central to the prosecution’s case and their safety could be compromised if their identities are revealed prematurely.

“All the witnesses subject to this application are factual witnesses whose evidence is crucial and directly implicates the accused persons,” Kyomuhendo stated.

He added that investigations had already uncovered threats directed at some of the witnesses, including one incident where an alleged accomplice to the accused reportedly threatened to harm one of them.

“There is a security threat against the six witnesses and if their identities are disclosed at this stage, their lives and that of their loved ones would be in danger,” Kyomuhendo said.

The state argues that early disclosure could expose the witnesses to intimidation, interference or harm, potentially undermining the integrity of the trial.

“If the identities of these witnesses are disclosed now, there is a high likelihood of interference, intimidation and harm towards them or their loved ones,” the affidavit further notes.

However, the prosecution maintains that granting the orders would not prejudice the defence because the accused persons will still receive the relevant evidence before the witnesses testify.

“The orders sought if granted will not cause any injustice to the accused persons since redacted disclosures will be made,” Kyomuhuhendo added.

Dr Besigye and two other accused persons are jointly indicted on charges of treason and misprision of treason under the Penal Code Act and are currently being held on remand at Luzira Prison as the trial continues.

Besigye was arrested in November 2024 in Nairobi and later transferred to Uganda where he was charged in court.

The High Court is expected to consider the prosecution’s application as the hearing of the case progresses.

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Parliament has been told that at the current rate of funding allocated to settle government domestic arrears, it could take more than four decades to clear the outstanding debt currently estimated at Shs8.4 trillion.

The revelation emerged during a meeting between Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and officials from the Ministry of Finance while reviewing the December 2025 Auditor General’s report, which highlighted the growing burden of domestic arrears owed to suppliers and contractors.

During the session, Kashari North MP Basil Bataringaya calculated that if the government continues allocating Shs200 billion annually to clear arrears, it would take about 48 years to eliminate the current stock.

“I have computed, it is 48 years. For the Shs9.6 trillion, Shs200 billion per year is 48 years. The mid-term has a maximum of five years. But also remember there is a rate of growth of domestic arrears,” Bataringaya told the committee.

He warned that the debt is unlikely to remain static because new arrears continue to accumulate as government obligations increase.

“So the domestic arrears will be growing, it will not be static. But the current one, at the rate at which we have programmed to pay, we shall cover it in 48 years,”he added.

The discussion followed concerns raised by PAC Vice Chairperson Gorreth Namugga, who questioned government’s commitment to settling debts owed to individuals and companies that supplied goods and services to government institutions but have remained unpaid for years.

Namugga argued that the UGX 200 billion allocation in the upcoming 2026/27 national budget is insufficient given the magnitude of the outstanding arrears.

“If you look at the trend of budgeting for domestic arrears over the previous five years, Shs200 billion has been your allocation most of the time. Yet the validated arrears stand at about Shs8 to Shs9 trillion,” Namugga said.

She added, “So if you really have a budget of Shs200 billion, which miracle are you going to perform to clear this debt? At the end of the day, you are seriously killing the private sector.”

However, Secretary to the Treasury Ramathan Ggoobi defended the government’s approach, explaining that the Shs200 billion reflects the base funding currently available and that additional resources could be allocated if they become available.

“The Shs200 billion is the money we had in the base, and that is why I communicated it. If we manage to get new resources, it is an area of priority. When we fail, we shall definitely pay Shs200 billion. We can’t pay money we don’t have,” Ggoobi explained.

He also revealed that a verification exercise conducted by the Auditor General had uncovered irregularities in some of the claims.

“I requested the Auditor General to verify these arrears. The verifiers are finding that some claims had no concrete evidence that goods or services were supplied to government,”Ggoobi said.

He added that once verification is completed, government will begin releasing funds to settle the legitimate claims.

“We are going to do very well in wiping out the portfolio that remains. Starting next quarter, we shall release money to pay those who have been certified as legitimate arrears,”he said.

Ggoobi further clarified that the figure of Shs9.6 trillion cited during the committee meeting was inaccurate, noting that a revised figure will soon be announced by the Auditor General.

“That number you have is not correct. There is a new number coming and the Auditor General will announce it soon,”he said.

Despite concerns about arrears, the Treasury Secretary told MPs that Uganda’s economy remains stable and continues to register strong performance across several indicators.

He revealed that the country earned $14.4 billion (about Shs53.6 trillion) in exports in 2025, the highest export earnings in Uganda’s history.

“Uganda has never in its history exported goods and services worth that magnitude. Our export performance reached $14.4 billion,” Ggoobi said.

According to him, the strong export performance has helped stabilize the Ugandan shilling, which has recently appreciated against major currencies including the US dollar.

“The shilling is stable and strong mainly because of the good performance of exports,” he explained.

Ggoobi also told the committee that inflation has remained under control despite Uganda entering an election period, which has historically triggered price instability.

“Usually, around election periods we see inflation rising, but this time prices of goods and services have remained stable,” he said.

He noted that Uganda’s economy is projected to grow between 6.5 and 7 percent this financial year, driven by expansion in agriculture, manufacturing, and the services sector.

“The GDP is continuing to grow, driven by all sectors of the economy. Agriculture, manufacturing and services are all growing,”Ggoobi said.

He further revealed that Uganda recorded strong inflows in its financial account, amounting to US$5.6 billion, including $3.56 billion in Foreign Direct Investment and $1.7 billion from portfolio investors.

“As a result, our balance of payments registered a surplus of $2.37 billion, meaning Uganda received more money from international transactions than what went out, ”he said.

However, Ggoobi acknowledged that revenue collection remains a weak area, despite registering growth of about 16 percent, and said the government is working on measures to strengthen domestic revenue mobilisation.

“Revenue collection is still one of the areas of weakness, and we are working to address it in the coming budgets, ”he said.

He assured MPs that despite global and domestic economic pressures, Uganda’s economy remains resilient.

“The state of the economy is quite good, and we hope it will remain stable despite geopolitical challenges around the world,” Ggoobi said.

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