KAMPALA — The Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) has officially commenced registration for candidates intending to sit the 2026 national examinations, including the Primary Leaving Examination (PLE), the Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE), and the Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE).
Speaking during a media briefing at the Uganda Media Centre, UNEB Executive Director Dan N. Odongo outlined key registration requirements and cautioned schools against malpractice during the registration process.
Odongo urged parents and head teachers to ensure that candidates are registered using the correct names as they appear on official identification documents.
“Before registering candidates, the head teacher and parents should agree on the correct spellings and order of names that candidates should use. The names of the candidates should be obtained from the birth certificate or NIRA forms submitted by the parents,” he said.
The UNEB Executive Director noted that the 2026 UCE candidates will be the third cohort of learners registering under the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC), which requires students to register for a minimum of eight and a maximum of nine subjects.
“This year’s candidates are the third cohort of learners to register under the Competency-Based Curriculum. CBC requires candidates to register for a minimum of eight and a maximum of nine subjects,” Odongo explained.
He clarified that only candidates who sat PLE in 2022 or earlier and obtained Division One, Two, Three or Four, or their equivalent, will be eligible to register for the 2026 UCE examinations, provided they have completed four years of lower secondary education.
Odongo further emphasised that all UCE candidates must have submitted Continuous Assessment (CA) scores for every subject, including project scores undertaken in Senior Three.
“Only candidates who have submitted Continuous Assessment scores to UNEB for all subjects and the project scores for S.3 qualify for 2026 UCE registration,” he said, adding that the requirement also applies to private adult candidates and learners with equated results.
For UACE candidates, Odongo revealed that the 2026 class will be the first group to sit Advanced Level examinations after undergoing the Competency-Based Assessment system at the lower secondary level.
“This year’s UACE candidates are the pioneers of the Competency-Based Assessment at the UCE level. They are therefore going to be assessed under the UACE-aligned Competency-Based Curriculum,” he said.
He reassured stakeholders that UNEB, working with the National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC), had established that the content framework of the aligned curriculum remains unchanged.
UNEB also reminded candidates with foreign academic qualifications that they must first have their results equated before they can register for national examinations.
“All candidates with foreign results must have their marks equated by UNEB before registration. After receiving the equated results, the candidates will be given a unique code to enable them to register electronically,” Odongo explained.
The Board used the briefing to warn schools against imposing unauthorised charges on learners under the guise of UNEB fees.
“According to the UNEB Act, Section 33, it is an offence to charge fees not prescribed by UNEB and refer to such fees as UNEB fees,” Odongo cautioned. “Heads of Centres and School Directors should not describe any administrative costs as UNEB fees.”
He also directed school administrators to ensure that all registration fees collected are remitted to UNEB and that every eligible learner is duly registered.
In addition, Odongo warned government-aided schools against fraudulently registering privately sponsored students as government-sponsored candidates, describing the practice as a source of financial loss to the state.
Finally, UNEB reminded all examination centres that the law requires them to publicly display lists of registered candidates at least 60 days before the commencement of national examinations.
“The UNEB Act requires schools and examination centres to display the register of registered students in a conspicuous place on school noticeboards sixty days before the start of national examinations,” Odongo said.
The registration exercise is expected to continue in the coming months as schools across the country prepare candidates for Uganda’s 2026 national examinations.