By KT Reporter
The Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) has released the 2025 Primary Leaving Examination (PLE) results, indicating a modest improvement in overall candidate performance compared to recent years, with English emerging as the best subject for learners.
The results, announced during a ceremony presided over by the First Lady and Minister for Education and Sports, Janet Museveni, at State House Nakasero, this morning, showed that the proportion of candidates attaining Division One has increased compared to 2024, allowing more learners to qualify for the next level of education.
According to UNEB Executive Director Dan Odongo, 91,990 candidates, representing 11.39 per cent of the total, achieved Division One. However, he said, while this marks a slight rise in the top-tier passes, direct comparisons with the 11.7 per cent recorded in 2024 should be made cautiously due to differences in cohort sizes and registration numbers.
He said that a larger number of candidates sat the 2025 examinations, contributing to higher absolute figures across the divisions. Division Two recorded a decline in both numbers and percentage, with 388,293 candidates (48.49 per cent) placed in the category. Division Three accounted for 165,226 candidates, while 84,724 were graded in Division Four.
“I do not doubt that with the efforts the government has put in towards expansion of access to post–primary education, all 730,000 learners graded/passed will find places in secondary and vocational schools,” UNEB Chairperson, Prof. Celestino Obua said.
However, the results also reveal a troubling increase in the number of ungraded candidates. A total of 77,080 learners (9.55 per cent) failed to meet the minimum marks required for grading, up from 64,251 (8.2 per cent) in 2024, an indication that more pupils could face challenges progressing with their education.
Subject performance showed English as the strongest area, followed by Integrated Science and Mathematics, while Social Studies (SST) registered the weakest results. “Compared to 2024, English showed improvement, while SST experienced a significant decline,” Odongo explained.
Distinctions also rose slightly this year, addressing past criticism of under-marking in some schools. Mathematics registered a higher share of Distinction One grades, with 18,245 candidates (2.26 per cent) attaining the top score. English produced the largest number of Distinction Two awards at 66,684 candidates.
Odongo added that examiners commended the quality of the papers, noting that they reflected the ongoing shift toward competency-based learning by assessing learners’ ability to apply knowledge and practical skills.
However, he observed that some teachers, particularly in Social Studies and Religious Education, have yet to fully adapt to the new approach. As a result, many candidates struggled with questions requiring the practical application of knowledge within their communities and the wider national context, contributing to weaker performance in those subjects.
Social Studies recorded the fewest distinctions and a notably high failure rate, with 104,950 candidates scoring F9. Odongo observed that aggregate scores of four remain exceptionally rare, largely because weaker performance in Social Studies pulled down overall aggregates. Further analysis of UNEB data shows that most candidates scored aggregates between 11 and 30, with a significant concentration around aggregate 20. A total of 807,313 candidates sat the 2025 PLE across 15,388 examination centres nationwide.
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