By Admin
The results of the 2022 Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) – or O’Level – exams were released Thursday at State House, Nakasero by the education minister and First Lady, Janet Museveni.
National exams body UNEB chairperson Mary Okwakol handed over the results to the minister for release.
Here are the key statistics from the exams, as presented in the release statement by UNEB executive secretary Dan Odongo (pictured below):
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Candidature
– Candidature increased by 16,063 (4.8%), that is from 333,396 in 2020 to 349,459, in 2022. This reversed the decrease of 4,324 (-1.3%) that had been witnessed in the previous examination.
– The candidates sat from 3,703 centres. Of these, 114,181 (32.7%) were Universal Secondary Education (USE) beneficiaries.
– The number of male candidates registered was 175,768 (50.3%) and that of females was 173,691 (49.7%). The difference was 2,077 more males than females. In 2019, the number of females had surpassed that of the males, for the first time, by 398.
– The gap, in favour of males, appears to be resurfacing.
In 2022, 345,695 candidates (173,761 males and 171,934 females) appeared for the examination compared to 330,592 candidates who appeared for the examination in 2020. This is an increase of 15,103 (4.6%) candidates.
Performance
– There was an improvement in performance in the large entry subjects except in Christian Religious Education (CRE), Biology and Commerce. Mathematics showed better performance at the distinction level, but declined overall.
– English Language improved at credit and overall pass levels, but declined at the distinction level. Performance in Biology has continued to decline as seen in the last few years.
– Performance in Physics and Chemistry improved, although the overall pass levels are still low. Over 40% of the candidates did not pass the two subjects.
– UNEB examined Chinese Language for the first time in 2022.
A total of 134 candidates sat and 124 (92.5%) of them passed. The language is in addition to other major languages: French, German, Arabic, Latin and Kiswahili already are being examined.
– The table below shows a comparison of the performance of candidates in 2022 in selected subjects:
Females better in English
– Female candidates performed better than males in English Language. In Chemistry, the male candidates show better performance in the higher grades but, overall, a higher percentage of females obtained at least a pass.
This trend in the disparity in the performance of male and female candidates has been observed over the years.
– In 2022, examiners reported better quality work in English Language. However, in composition writing, where candidates are expected to exhibit creativity and originality, learners in some schools are still cramming passages from textbooks what they call “model compositions” with unusual and difficult vocabulary.
They then reproduce the crammed passages irrespective of what the composition topic is. This practice is, fortunately, declining, because candidates who do this are punished.
In the Comprehension passage, candidates found difficulty in extracting appropriate information to use to correctly answer the questions based on the passage. There are also weaknesses in using the correct grammar in sentence construction.
– The essential skill of extracting main ideas from a passage and writing out a coherent summary presents a major challenge to most candidates. 
Results withheld
– A total of 1,035 results have been withheld in accordance with Section 5 (2) (b) of the UNEB Act No 1 of 2021. The number of results to be withheld has been reducing steadily at this level.
Examination centres from which results are withheld will be notified through their portals.
Getting your exams and submitting queries
Following the release, parents, candidates and other interested parties can now access results via SMS on phone using the candidate’s full index number.
To check using SMS, go to the Message menu on your phone, type UCE, leave a space, type the candidate’s full index number and then send to 6600 (charges apply).
Heads of examination centres can download the results from their portals. No hard copy result lists will be issued from UNEB offices until conditions are more favourable. Examination centres will be notified accordingly.
Heads of examination centres are advised to study the examination lists and submit any queries they may have to the UNEB secretariat via the portal within 15 working days from today’s date. Queries submitted after this date may not be attended to.
