KAMPALA — A total of 4,675 candidates sat the August 2026 Certified Public Accountants of Uganda (CPA(U)) examinations, with 2,281 examination scripts recording passes, giving an overall pass rate of 34%.
The results were released on Monday by the Public Accountants Examinations Board (PAEB) under the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Uganda (ICPAU).
The number of candidates increased by 426, or 10.03%, from the 4,249 candidates who sat the August 2025 examinations.
According to PAEB, 6,711 examination scripts were presented in the August 2026 sitting. Female candidates accounted for 3,890 scripts, representing 57.9%, while male candidates presented 2,821 scripts, or 42.1%.
The overall pass rate, however, declined from 36.4% in August 2025 to 34% in August 2026, a drop of 2.4 percentage points.
Performance varied across the four levels of the CPA(U) course.
Level I recorded an average pass rate of 49.9%, up from 41.6% in August 2025, while Level II declined from 44.1% to 34.7%. Level III recorded a slight decline from 22.5% to 22.2%, while Level IV, comprising Integration of Knowledge, improved from 33.5% to 52.1%.
PAEB Chairperson CPA Nancy Amuge Owino attributed some of the challenges to inadequate preparation, weaknesses in applying technical knowledge, examination technique and interpretation of question requirements.
She said the Board would continue strengthening support for candidates through student engagement sessions, pre-examination briefings and collaboration with tuition providers.
PAEB has been conducting free virtual student engagement sessions, with the Board reporting improved performance among students who participated.
A specialised workshop was also held on August 7 for 70 tuition providers, focusing on the teaching of audit-related papers, which have consistently recorded poor performance.
“PAEB is looking into additional remedies to support student preparation to ensure improved pass rates for the CPA course,” Owino said.
130 complete CPA course
The August examination diet saw 130 students complete the CPA(U) course, compared with 97 in August 2025.
Of the 130 finalists, 69 were female, and 61 were male, bringing the cumulative number of students who have completed the CPA course to 5,806.
Samali Favour Nawankambo emerged as the overall top student and the best-performing female candidate.
She was followed by Phionah Nalwanga as the second-best student, while Mary Nakawooya emerged third overall.
Across the 21 top positions in individual papers and overall performance, male candidates occupied 11 positions, representing 52.4%, while female candidates took 10 positions, or 47.6%.
PAEB addresses examination concerns
The Board also acknowledged an incident involving CPA Paper 18 – Integration of Knowledge, which was scheduled to begin at 9 am on August 26 but started at 11 am at the affected examination centre.
Owino apologised to the affected candidates and said the Board had taken note of the incident and was committed to finding lasting solutions to prevent similar occurrences.
PAEB also addressed concerns raised by students in the media regarding examination fairness, marking and retake costs.
Owino said neither PAEB nor the ICPAU Secretariat had formally received the petition and urged students to submit complaints through the Institute’s prescribed channels.
ICPAU President CPA Timothy Ediomu congratulated candidates who completed the examinations and encouraged them to proceed towards ICPAU membership.
He also urged candidates who did not attain their expected results to review their performance, identify areas requiring improvement and prepare for another attempt.
During the results release, ICPAU CEO and Secretary CPA Derick Nkajja also responded to students’ concerns over examination questions, urging them to use the established professional channels to raise complaints.
He said some of the issues raised by students related to support mechanisms already provided by the Institute, including regular student engagements and subject-specific sessions.
Nkajja also urged candidates to view professional accountancy as extending beyond examination success. He encouraged students to uphold integrity, reliability, effective communication, respect, accountability, competence and continuous growth.
