UGANDA NATIONAL EXAMINATIONS BOARD

P. O. Box 7066, Kampala, Uganda

OUR REFERENCE: CF/UNEB/50 Ntinda TelTel. 0417-773100, 0414-286635/6/7, 0414-289397

YOUR REFERENCE: Kyambogo Tel: 0417-773256, 0414-286173

E-mail: uneb@uneb.ac.ug, Website: www.uneb.ac.ug

30 July, 2021

STATEMENT ON RELEASE OF 2020 UCE EXAMINATION RESULTS

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Honourable Minister of Education and Sports, with pleasure, the Uganda National
Examinations Board presents to you Results for the year 2020 Uganda Certificate
of Education (UCE) Examination for release to the public, in accordance with the
mandate of the Board under Section 4(1)(b) of the UNEB Act, No 1 of 2021.
The examination was conducted between 1st March and 6th April 2021 under the
theme “Integrity and Security in the management of examinations, the
Health and Safety of Learners is a joint responsibility”.

2.0 TOTAL CANDIDATURE

Candidature decreased by 4,324 (-1.3%) from 337,720 in 2019 to 333,396.

Of these, 148,128 (44.4%) were USE beneficiaries. The number of male
candidates registered is 166,744 (50.01%) and that of females is 166,652
(49.99%). The difference is only 92 more males than females. In 2019,
the number of females had surpassed that of the males by 398.

In 2020, 330,592 candidates (165,251 males and 165,341 females) appeared

for the examination compared to 333,060 candidates who appeared for the
examination in 2019. This is a decrease of 2,468 (-0.7%) candidates. The number
of females who sat was more than that of males by 90 candidates.

Statistics of the number of candidates who registered for, and those who sat the
UCE examination for the last 5 years are given in Table 1 below.
 Table 1: Registration over the Last Five Years

Year Candidates Candidates Absentees % Absent

registered who sat
2020 333,396 330,592 2,804 0.8
2019 337,720 333,060 4,660 1.4
2018 326,212 320,119 6,093 1.9
2017 323,276 316,624 6,652 2.0
2016 313,162 306,507 6,655 2.1

Absenteeism of candidates has continued to drop over the last five years.

A total of 519 Special Needs Education (SNE) candidates (252 males;

267 females) registered for the 2020 UCE examination compared to 358 in 2019.
These consisted of the blind (29), those with low vision (104), the deaf (78),
the dyslexics (43) and physically handicapped (76). There were 189 others
with other forms of disability that only needed to be given extra time. The Board
made adequate arrangements for these candidates, which included modification
of questions, provision of questions written in Braille form, providing support
personnel for the handicapped and dyslexics, and sign language interpreters for
the deaf. Candidates with low vision were given question papers with enlarged
print to enable them read more easily. All SNE candidates were allowed extra 45
minutes in each paper.

3.0 COMPARISON OF GENERAL CANDIDATES’ PERFORMANCE FOR 2020 AND

2019 UCE EXAMINATIONS

Performance of candidates who sat in 2020 and 2019 in terms of Division passes
is compared in Table 2 below.

Table 2: General Performance in 2020 compared to 2019

2020 2019
Division No. of Cumm No. Of % Cumm
% Cumm Cumm
Cands no. of Cands age no. of
age % %
Cands Cands
1 39,968 12.1 39,968 12.1 27,842 8.4 27,842 8.3
2 69,782 21.2 109,750 33.3 58,575 17.6 86,417 25.7
3 81,428 24.7 191,178 58.0 77,289 23.2 163,706 48.7
4 120,055 36.4 311,233 94.4 143,218 43.0 306,924 91.3
9 18,415 5.6 329,648 26,136 7.8 336,060

NB: Figures do not include withheld results.

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There was better performance overall, compared to 2019, with 311,233
(4,309 more) candidates passing compared to 306,924 who passed the
examination in 2019.

Performance of candidates in 2020 in various subjects is compared to the 2019

performance of candidates in the same subjects in Table 3 below.

Table 3: Comparison of 2020 and 2019 Candidates’ Performance

in Selected Subjects

2020 2019
Subject No. of Percentage at No. of Percentage at
Cands. 2 6 8 Cands. 2 6 8
English Lang. 329,447 1.3 42.8 78.2 330,058 0.6 36.0 77.2
Christ. Rel. Ed 224,695 12.6 64.2 87.9 228,394 4.4 40.5 72.3
Islam. Rel. Ed 35,550 18.1 66.6 87.4 31,953 12.2 60.9 85.4
History 328,550 7.0 53.3 73.4 329,112 2.7 37.2 67.8
Geography 329,380 1.9 55.8 80.4 329,929 3.8 66.6 85.3
Mathematics 329,453 3.9 37.9 67.2 330,080 3.9 32.6 60.7
Agriculture 184,102 7.2 60.4 85.9 198,443 1.8 42.4 75.0
Physics 329,303 1.2 19.1 53.2 329,611 0.6 14.2 46.8
Chemistry 329,292 1.4 13.0 45.3 329,713 1.4 15.5 54.6
Biology 332,524 0.7 28.2 64.3 329,828 0.5 31.5 70.0
Art (IPS) 95,588 1.7 76.1 99.7 80,109 1.0 82.7 99.9
Commerce 153,577 10.9 75.5 89.0 188,185 5.5 36.1 54.9

There is an overall improvement in performance in the large entry subjects except

in Geography, Chemistry and Biology, although Biology showed a slight
improvement at the Distinction 2 level.
Worth noting with concern is the overall pass levels for Science subjects where
nearly half of the candidates have not achieved the minimum Pass 8 level.
Chemistry remains the worst done subject.

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4.0 COMPARISON OF FEMALE AND MALE CANDIDATES’ PERFORMANCE

Table 4 compares performance of female and male candidates in selected subjects

expressed in terms of cumulative percentages at the indicated levels.

Table 4: Performance of Females and Males compared

PERCENTAGE AT
Subject GRADE 2 GRADE 6 GRADE 8
(Distinction level) (Credit level) (Pass level)
Female Male Female Male Female Male
English Lang. 1.4 1.3 43.8 41.6 79.3 76.9
CRE 11.6 13.6 63.2 65.3 87.6 88.2
IRE 16.4 20.0 64.9 68.6 86.9 88.0
History 5.2 8.8 47.7 59.0 69.2 77.6
Geography 1.4 2.5 51.5 60.2 77.5 83.3
Mathematics 2.5 5.2 32.8 43.0 64.3 70.2
Agriculture 4.6 9.6 52.2 67.7 81.7 89.8
Physics 0.7 1.8 14.0 24.1 47.6 58.7
Chemistry 0.8 2.0 10.1 16.0 42.7 47.9
Biology 0.5 1.0 23.4 32.8 61.2 67.4
Art (IPS) 1.0 2.3 72.3 79.3 99.7 99.7
Commerce 7.1 14.5 68.2 82.5 84.8 93.0

Female candidates performed better than males in English Language. In other

large entry subjects, male candidates show better performance, with the
differences more marked in Mathematics and the Sciences. This trend in the
disparity between the performance of male and female candidates has been
observed over the years.

Percentage passes at the different divisions are compared in Table 5 below.

Table 5: Comparison of Percentage Divisional Passes

Gender Division 1 Division 2 Division 3 Division 4 Division 9

Males 14.3 22.9 24.7 33.2 4.9
Females 9.9 19.4 24.7 39.7 6.3

Table 5 confirms that overall, male candidates performed better at all the higher
grades than their female counterparts did.

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5.0 PERFORMANCE OF SPECIAL GROUPS

5.1 Inmates

UNEB maintains an examination centre at Luzira Prisons for the inmates to assist
the Uganda Prison Service in their efforts at rehabilitation of offenders. The centre
registered 45 candidates and all sat. Four obtained Division 1, eight passed in
Division 2, 15 got Division 3; and 18 passed in Division 4. None failed.

5.2 Special Needs candidates

Table 6 below shows the candidates’ performance by category

Table 6: Performance of the best SNE candidates by category

Category Name Total Division School

Agg
Amanuensis Khauka Joel 10 1 Uganda Martyrs SS Namugongo
(Wakiso District)
Tino Esther Osega 12 1 Trinity College Nabbingo
(Wakiso District)
Blind Nabaka Yudaya 25 1 Iganga SS (Iganga District)
Asasira Mathew 30 1 Iganga SS (Iganga District)
Deaf Chedikol Timothy 35 2 Mbale School for the Deaf
(Mbale District)
Nyangoma Brenda 38 2 Wakiso SS for the Deaf
(Wakiso District)
Dyslexic Nanyombi Benitah 16 1 Uganda Martyrs SS Namugongo
Katrina (Wakiso District)
Nalugwa Teddy 20 1 Uganda Martyrs SS Namugongo
Mukasa (Wakiso District)
Partially Mbuya Preance 8 1 Our Lady of Africa SS,
sighted Solomon Namilyango (Mukono district)
Apili Nancy 13 1 Adwari SS (Otuke District)

The best SNE candidates are from the following schools - amanuensis (disability
requiring physical support) from Uganda Martyrs SS Namugongo and Trinity
College Nabbingo; the Blind are from Iganga SS; the deaf (with hearing
impairment) are from Mbale School for the Deaf and Wakiso Secondary School
for the Deaf. The dyslexic candidates (who required transcribers) are from
Uganda Martyrs SS, Namugongo; and the partially sighted (who needed large
print) are from Our Lady of Africa SS, Namilyango and Adwari SS in Otuke District.

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6.0 PERFORMANCE OF CANDIDATES

As we have stated before, the UCE examination is designed to assess the degree
of acquisition of the necessary knowledge, skills and competences in the various
learning areas; and to lay a foundation for specialization at higher education
levels. Examination Papers are carefully constructed and go through necessary
stages to ensure validity such that they test the candidates’ knowledge,
understanding, and ability to apply the knowledge acquired to solve problems in
given novel situations and to show analytical skills.

In the Sciences, the papers test the candidates’ ability to manipulate science
apparatus while carrying out experiments, to apply the science process skills of
making measurements and observations, recording observations and other data,
drawing inferences or conclusions from observations that they have made, data
presentation and interpretation. They should also be able to apply basic scientific
knowledge to solve problems in their environment.

The following challenges are persistent, and are responsible for poor performance
by the candidates in the lower grades. We have reported on these in previous
Statements of Release.

6.1 Language Deficiency

We note that performance in English Language has improved. However, in

composition writing, where candidates are expected to exhibit creativity and
originality teachers in some schools are still making learners cram passages from
what they call “model compositions” with unusual and difficult vocabulary. They
then reproduce the crammed passages irrespective of what the composition topic
is. Candidates also found difficulty in extracting appropriate information from the
Comprehension passage 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.

The challenge of language deficiency is reflected in performance in other subjects,

where Chief Examiners continue to report failure by the candidates to interpret
the demands of the tasks set, failure to follow instructions, misunderstanding key
words used in the stem of a question, and generally poor language expression.

In Sciences, the problems have remained the same as in recent years. Candidates
showed weaknesses in the handling of apparatus during the practical tests. The
weaknesses were also shown in making and recording observations and drawing
conclusions from those observations; tabulation of experimental results and

6 2020 UCE STATEMENT OF RELEASE OF RESULTS

 interpretation of the results to meet the demands of the question. They also
showed poor mathematical skills required in calculations, inability to write the
correct symbols of elements, formulae of compounds and equations, among
others. Some candidates merely forged figures of experimental results in the
practical papers. Most candidates showed lack of practical experience as many
schools tend to handle practical aspects of the curriculum much later in the course.
As a result, students do not develop the necessary skills. This could explain why
most malpractice cases are in science practical papers.

6.2 Performance in Higher Order Questions

As reported in previous statements, candidates do better in questions which

require mainly knowledge and understanding (low order questions). Higher order
questions which require candidates to apply knowledge in problem solving
situations, draw inferences or make predictions from observations or a set of data
are not done well. This has been persistent over the years.

7.0 EXAMINATION MALPRACTICE

The measures put in resulted in a welcome reduction in the cases of malpractice.

Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Mathematics have been most affected, with
external assistance, collusion among candidates, impersonation and script
substitution as the common cases. A total of 1,292 results will be withheld in
accordance with Section 5 (2) (b) of the UNEB Act No 1 of 2021. This number was
1,825 in 2019. The affected candidates will be given a fair hearing.

Examination centres from which results are withheld will be notified through their
portals.

8.0 APPRECIATION

I wish to express my profound appreciation to you, Hon Minister, and the entire
Ministry for your invaluable support.

I wish to thank all those persons, the Police and other security agencies who
rendered invaluable services to UNEB during monitoring the field conduct of the
examination. I sincerely thank the Area Supervisors, heads of examination centres
and invigilators, who conducted the examination in accordance with the stipulated
Board’s regulations and adhered to the Ministry of Health guidelines on the control
of COVID-19.

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 I thank the examiners whose hard work ensured that the marking ended on
schedule. I am grateful to the heads of the schools that allowed UNEB to use
their premises as marking centres.

Finally, in a very special way, I thank the staff of UNEB Secretariat for their utmost
perseverance, selfless commitment to duty and the personal sacrifices they made
to ensure the 2020 UCE Results are released.

9.0 ACCESS TO RESULTS AND COLLECTION OF RESULT SLIPS

Heads of UCE examination Centres can download the results from their portals as
soon as they are released. No hard copy result lists will be issued from UNEB
offices until conditions are more favourable. Examination centres will be notified
accordingly.

Candidates, their parents and any other person wishing to access results may do
so through their mobile phones. Go to the ‘Message’ menu and type UCE, leave
space, then type the correct index number of the candidate; e.g. U0000/001.
Send to 6600 on the MTN and AIRTEL networks.

We warn all schools against gathering the candidates in the school premises or
anywhere else for any form of celebration of the results as this act is likely to
spread COVID-19 infection.

Dan N. Odongo
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

8 2020 UCE STATEMENT OF RELEASE OF RESULTS