NEWS- The Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) has officially released the time table for the 2024 examinations.
This is the first time that UNEB will be examining the candidates of the New Lower Secondary Curriculum (NLSC) for the award of the Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE).
According to Dan N. Odingo, the UNEB executive director unlike previously when they had three sets of examinations, UNEB will this time round conduct Four Examinations (4Es), the UCE Examination based on the NLSC and the UCE (transitional examination), based on the old curriculum.
He noted that transitional examination is aimed at giving an opportunity to those that needed to repeat or those that missed the examination in 2023 for various reasons. This is a one –off examination under the old curriculum.
The other examinations are the Primary Leaving Examination (PLE) and the Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE) examination.
From the released timetable, examination Level Commencement/ Briefing date End Date as shown below.
Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) – New Lower Secondary Curriculum (NLSC) Friday 11th October Friday 8th November, 2024
Uganda Certificate of Education UCE – Transitional Examination based on the Old Curriculum Friday 11th October Friday 15th November.
Primary Leaving Examination (PLE) Monday 4th November Thursday 7th November
Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education ( UACE) Friday 8th November Friday 6th December
2024 Examinations will be done under the ‘Embracing security and holistic assessment of learners in a dynamic environment’.
Odongo called on all stakeholders to seriously consider the security of the examinations and preserve its sacredness stressing that this is the only way for them to be sure that the learners who have gone through the process have the grades and certificates that reflect their true ability.
He further takes cognizance of the need for holistic assessment – which is a global trend and the spirit behind the NLSC – to assess learners’ competencies using a variety of methods including projects and continuous assessment.
The Candidature for the 4Es
The UNEB executive director revealed that a total of one million, three hundred twenty thousand, four hundred (1,320,400) candidates have registered for the Four Examinations (4Es). This is an increase of 7.8% from last year’s candidature of 1,224,371.
Of the total candidature, 51.1% are females while 48.9% are males. 379,620 of the registered candidates are UCE candidates that include 369,477 for the NLSC and 10,143 for the transitional examination.
UNEB have recorded a very significant increase in candidature at UACE level this year, with 142,017 candidates, compared to last year’s candidature of 110,579. This reflects an increase of 28.4%.
Overview of the Time Table for the NLSC
The time table for the NLSC has 36 subjects as compared to the 46 subjects of the old curriculum. It focuses on the End of Cycle (EoC) assessment conducted by UNEB, which will contribute 80% of the overall achievement by each learner. The other 20% is comprised of the Continuous Assessment (CA) carried out at school for every learner.