The Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) has officially released the 2026 national examination timetable for the Primary Leaving Examination (PLE), the Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE), and the Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE).
According to UNEB Executive Director Dan Odongo, the national examinations season will commence on Thursday, October 8, 2026, starting with the mandatory briefing of UCE candidates. This marks the third consecutive year that the Board will be assessing candidates under the new Competency-Based Curriculum for the lower secondary cycle.
- UCE: October 8 – November 3, 2026
- PLE: October 30 – November 4, 2026
- UACE: November 7 – December 5, 2026
The Primary Leaving Examination will run from Thursday, October 30 to Wednesday, November 4, 2026. This will be closely followed by the UACE examinations, which will kick off on Friday, November 7 and conclude on Friday, December 5, 2026.
As final preparations begin, the Board has issued a strong warning regarding candidate behaviour. “We wish to caution candidates against involvement in acts of indiscipline. Being a candidate does not put you over and above the school rules and regulations,” Odongo warned.
“UNEB does not condone indiscipline and will not in any way support candidates who may be suspended or dismissed due to involvement in acts of indiscipline. We also ask parents to provide parental guidance to their candidates to avoid any mishaps.”
In line with legal requirements, UNEB has instructed all heads of centres, as well as district, city, and municipal inspectors of schools, to display the 2026 candidates’ registers for public viewing.
As provided for under Article 4, Sub-Section 2 of the UNEB Act CAP 259, examination centres are legally compelled to display candidate lists sixty days before the commencement of national examinations. For the 2026 cycle, the mandatory display period will continue until October 7, 2026. Registers must be pinned in a conspicuous place on school notice boards and at respective district headquarters.
“The purpose of the display is to enable candidates to confirm their registration status as well as the correctness of their biodata,” Odongo noted.
Candidates are advised to look out for the correctness and order of names, date of birth, gender, resolution of the candidates’ photograph, as well as the subjects and papers registered for in the case of UCE and UACE candidates. After confirming registration status, candidates must sign on a parallel register to confirm the correctness of the registration data.
The Board further guided that if any anomalies are discovered in the registration data, candidates must immediately inform school authorities. The school heads are then required to alert UNEB to make the necessary corrections before the October deadline.
Heads of centres have been heavily cautioned to cross-check the accuracy of all candidate biodata before appending their signatures and institutional stamps to the final parallel registers. In cases where a student has not been registered but possesses valid proof of payment made before the set deadlines, the Board must be notified immediately for emergency rectification.
The release of the timetable marks the beginning of the final phase of preparations for the 2026 examination season, with candidates, parents, and schools now urged to ensure all registration details are accurate and that candidates are adequately prepared for the assessments ahead.
