LATEST UPDATES
- You can see results of schools in Uganda’s best performing municipality of Bushenyi-Ishaka in PLE 2025 Here.
- In our PLE 2025 Performance Per District report, See Number of First Grades Per District, City and Municipality Here.
- For a guide on how candidates, parents and schools can access, download or collet PLE 2025 results, see details Here.
- Uneb says invigilators, scouts and District Education officials helped schools Cheat PLE 2025. See Details Here.
Education minister Janet Museveni and assessment body Uganda National Examinations Board (Uneb) officials are releasing results from the 2025 Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE) at State House Nakasero in Kampala. The Pearl Times will be giving you updates on the release as we begin our coverage of PLE 2025 results release. We’ll keep updating this page for more updates:
We begin with remarks by Prof. Celestino Obua, the Uneb Chairperson:
“Candidature has continued to rise, while absenteeism has remained steady at 1.3 percent over the last two years. However, as you rightly noted in your statement last year, any drop-out is a cause for concern. I trust that the Permanent Secretary and her team have since been able to establish some of the underlying causes, as was promised.
Performance at the Grade One pass level has improved compared to the 2024 examination. Overall, more candidates have qualified to proceed to the next level or cycle of education than was the case in 2024. I have no doubt that, given the Government’s continued efforts to expand access to post-primary education, all the 730,000 learners who were graded and passed will secure placement in secondary and vocational institutions.
For the second consecutive year, the Board conducted an item analysis of the four examination papers offered at this level to establish the proficiency levels attained by learners. This initiative aligns well with the country’s paradigm shift towards a Competency-Based Curriculum and assessment. The analysis will henceforth be conducted and reported annually.
From the findings, the Board has formed the view that teachers require substantial capacity-building support to enable them to effectively interpret the curriculum and adapt their teaching approaches accordingly. Over the last two years, the Board identified two Local Governments with the lowest levels of achievement and provided targeted capacity-building support to selected teachers. Subject to the availability of funds, this intervention—modest as it may be—will be sustained as a contribution to complementary initiatives undertaken by the Ministry through its various agencies.” — Prof. Celestino Obua, the Uneb Chairperson
Some of the comments by Uneb ED Dan Odongo
- The examination was administered under the theme: “Embracing Security and Holistic Assessment of Learners in a Dynamic Environment,” the same theme that was adopted in 2024. The issues that informed the development and use of this theme in 2024 remain relevant to the examination process in 2025.
Candidature
A total of 817,883 candidates from 15,388 examination centres registered for the 2025 Primary Leaving Examination (PLE), compared to 797,444 candidates in 2024.
Of this total, 522,036 candidates (63.8%) from 11,525 centres were Universal Primary Education (UPE) beneficiaries, while 295,847 candidates (36.2%) from 3,863 centres were non-UPE candidates.
In 2025, analysis by gender shows that 389,469 (47.6%) boys were registered compared to 428,324 (52.4%) girls, indicating that more girls than boys completed the Primary Education cycle. This has been the trend in recent years. The percentage was 52.5% for the girls in 2024 whereas for the boys was 47.5%.
The Board registered 3,636 learners with Special Needs of various categories compared to 3,328 in 2024. This is an increase of 308 candidates. The number continues to increase annually due to the awareness that has been created in the schools by UNEB, and the Ministry of Education. In this group, female candidates constitute 48.3% while 51.7% are males.
UNEB also registered 61 candidates from Uganda Government Upper Prison, Luzira (54 males and 7 females), and 40 from Mbarara Main Prison (39 males and 1 female).
Examination Bureaus
Examiners and curriculum specialists commended the overall quality of the examination papers administered. The papers clearly reflected the paradigm shift towards competency-based learning, with questions designed to assess learners’ ability to apply knowledge and skills.
However, it was noted that some teachers—particularly in Social Studies and Religious Education—have not fully adjusted their teaching approaches to align with this shift. As a result, many candidates experienced difficulty responding to questions that required the application of knowledge, especially in relation to their communities and the country at large. This partly explains the decline in performance in these subjects compared to 2024.
Examiners also highlighted the negative impact of materials developed and circulated by so-called examination bureaus shortly before the examination. Such materials were misleading and adversely affected candidates’ preparedness and performance.
More on performance
In terms of percentages, males performed better than the females and recorded a lower failure rate.
More candidates passed in Division 1 in 2025 than in 2024, an increase of 7,689. In terms of numbers, more candidates (7,503) passed the 2025 PLE compared to 2024. Males performed better than the females and recorded a lower failure rate
Candidates performed best in English, followed by Integrated Science and Maths. Social Studies with Religious Education (SST) was worst done. Compared to 2024, English showed an improvement while SST showed a significant decline in performance.
As we continue our coverage on the PLE 2025 results release, here is a look at the list of best performing schools in Western Uganda, Buganda and major cities in the previous year’s PLE sitting Here, There and Over There.
Also take a look at the best performing schools countrywide with only first grades, as well as those with most aggregate 4-in-4 scores in the previous year’s PLE sitting Here and There.
