The Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) has released the 2023 Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE) results at a function officiated by the First Lady and Minister of Education and Sports, Hon. Janet Museveni at State Lodge, Nakasero.
The UNEB Chairperson, Professor Celestino Obua informed Maama Janet that last year’s performance has improved especially at the upper level of candidates obtaining 3 principal passes.
He also revealed that the female candidates performed better than their male counterparts.
“We note that, once again. female candidates have performed better, Proportionally, than the males at all levels and have shown a lower failure rate. Even at individual subject levels they have shown a better Performance. However, we continue to see a low percentage of the female Candidates at this level offering Mathematics and Science combinations. The paradox, Honourable Minister. is that the girls who offer the STEM subjects perform well, if not better than the boys. Why then do the girls shy away from these subjects?” he said.
The UNEB Executive Director, Dan Odongo said a total of 110,553 candidates registered for the 2023 UACE examination from 2,102 centres compared to 97,890 candidates from 1,969 centres in 2022.
He said this is an increase of 12,663 candidates (12.9%).
“Of these, 47,226 (42.7%) were females and 63,339 (57.3%) were males. Candidates who appeared for the examination were 109,488, compared to 96,557 in 2022, an increase of 12,931 candidates (13.4%). Of these, 46,860 (42.8%) were females and 62,628 (57.2%) were males. At this level, the number of female candidates has consistently been much lower than that of the males,” Mr. Odongo noted.
“The numbers of candidates registering and appearing for Mathematics and the Sciences are gradually increasing, with Mathematics showing the greatest promise. However, overall, the numbers have remained well below half of the total candidature. This is consistent with the fact that pass rates in these subjects in the Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) examination have also been low, impacting transition to UACE”.
Mr. Odongo added that that the University admissions to degree courses have, up to date, been considering 2 Principal level passes as the minimum requirement.
“If this consideration is maintained, 80,643 (73.7%) qualify to be admitted, compared to 67,815 (70.3%) in 2022. This is consistent with the fact that there was better overall performance and a significant increase in entries for the examination in 2023. In cases where one Principal and two Subsidiary passes levels are considered for admission to other tertiary institutions, 90.7% of the candidates will qualify. This is better when compared to 2022 with 89.3%.”
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