The selection of learners joining Senior One officially begins on Thursday, February 12, and will run through Friday, February 13, at Lugogo Multipurpose Hall in Kampala, marking a critical transition for thousands of candidates who sat the 2025 Primary Leaving Examination (PLE).
Across the country, parents and candidates are closely monitoring the exercise as traditional “big schools” adjust their cut-off points.
Some institutions have raised their entry aggregates following strong national performance trends, while others have slightly lowered them to fill available vacancies.
Cut-off points are typically influenced by overall national performance and the capacity of individual schools.
In years where results are generally strong, competition for places in top-tier schools intensifies, pushing aggregates higher.
Conversely, schools with unfilled slots may adjust downward to attract sufficient numbers.
Last year, traditional giants from Kampala and the metropolitan areas maintained a competitive cutoff point with Aggregate 8 as the benchmark.
They included Budo (5), Gayaza High (6), Makerere College (7 and 8), Nabisunsa (7), Mt St Mary's Namagunga (7), SMACK (5), Kitende (5 and 7), Ntare (7), Trinity College Nabbingo (6), Kawempe Muslims (7 and 8), and Kibuli SS (6 and 7.
The selection process is designed to ensure merit-based placement, particularly in government-aided traditional schools and other highly sought-after institutions.
Education authorities say the exercise aims to provide transparency and fairness in allocating limited spaces.
However, critics argue that the system often appears skewed toward elite and high-performing schools, leaving average-performing learners facing uncertainty during placement.
While some prestigious institutions maintain strict selection criteria, many private secondary schools are open to admitting learners who meet the basic pass requirements, provided parents can afford the tuition and related costs.
That flexibility offers relief to families whose children may not have attained top aggregates but remain determined to continue their education.
At the same time, some schools — both government and private — still decline learners with weaker grades, citing performance benchmarks and limited capacity.
Uganda has a broad network of secondary schools across the country, and education experts frequently caution parents against equating academic success solely with admission to a handful of prestigious institutions.
They argue that consistent support, discipline and commitment to learning are more critical determinants of long-term achievement.
As the two-day selection exercise unfolds, thousands of families will find out where the next phase of their children’s academic journey begins — a reminder that while competition for top schools remains intense, multiple pathways to success exist within Uganda’s education system.
