The Uganda National Examinations Board (Uneb) has published the timetables for the 2023 exams, scheduled to take place from mid-October to early December. A total of 1,224,371 candidates, comprising 601,481 males and 622,890 females, are registered to sit their final year papers at all levels of primary and post-primary schooling across 20,921 examination centers nationwide.
At the secondary school level, there has been a significant increase in candidate numbers. A total of 110,579 candidates are registered for A-Level, compared to 97,889 last year. For O-Level, there is an increase from 349,433 in 2022 to 364,421 candidates this year.
The majority of candidates, totaling 645,191, are enrolled in public schools, with 579,180 attending private institutions. Examinations for the Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) will commence with a customary briefing of Senior Four candidates on October 13 and conclude on November 17.
Uneb’s executive director, Mr. Daniel Odongo, has informed journalists that Geography will be the first subject examined, followed by Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE) from November 7 to 9, running concurrently with O-Level papers. The first day of PLE includes Mathematics and Social Studies, followed by Science and English on the next day.
A week before the UCE examinations conclude, examinations for the Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE) will start with a briefing of Senior Six candidates on November 10. Sitting for the UACE papers begins on November 14 with Economics and Chemistry and ends on December 1.
Mr. Odongo has advised heads of examination centers to ensure every candidate receives a copy of the timetable, which should also be displayed on school notice boards. Braille versions of the UCE and UACE timetables have been provided for Special Needs Education candidates with visual impairment.
While Uneb has witnessed increasing O-Level candidate numbers annually, it is yet to determine the reasons for the rise in UACE candidate numbers, given the previous decline at this level. However, there is a notable drop in PLE candidate numbers by 83,438, decreasing from 832,809 last year to 749,371 this year. This decline is attributed to the lingering effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, which led many parents to register their children, who missed a year of school, for the 2022 set.
Candidates, heads of institutions, and parents have been cautioned against exam malpractice. Mr. Odongo emphasized that candidates must report any person suspected of engaging in examination malpractice. The consequences for malpractice include disqualification, result cancellation, or even candidate arrest.
Malpractice includes activities such as smuggling unauthorized materials into examination rooms, copying or exposing work to allow another candidate to copy, receiving external assistance, having prior knowledge of examination questions, impersonation, improper behavior, substitution of examination scripts, irregularities, possession of mobile phones or communication gadgets, having books or revision notes while confined before science practical, marking one’s own work, submitting two answer scripts, or any other detected malpractice.
