The Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) has released the results of the 2025 Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE), showing that 730,233 candidates passed the exams.
The majority of candidates, 388,293, passed in Division Two, followed by 165,226 in Division Three, 91,990 in Division One, and 84,724 in Division Four.
Compared to 2024, 7,503 more candidates passed in 2025, with an additional 7,689 students achieving Division One, highlighting an upward trend in academic performance.
While more girls (380,264) passed the PLE than boys (349,969) in absolute numbers, boys outperformed girls in the top divisions. For instance, 48,220 boys (12.54%) secured Division One compared to 43,770 girls (10.35%). In Division Two, 186,638 boys (48.54%) passed compared to 47.69% of girls.
The results also revealed higher failure rates among girls, with 42,580 ungraded female candidates (10.07%) compared to 34,500 boys (8.97%).
A total of 817,883 candidates from 15,388 examination centers registered for the 2025 PLE, up from 797,444 in 2024. Of these, 522,036 students (63.8%) from 11,525 centers were beneficiaries of Universal Primary Education (UPE), while 295,847 candidates (36.2%) from 3,863 centers were Non-UPE students.
The results reflect both the continuing growth in Uganda’s primary education system and the competitive performance of students, particularly boys, in the higher divisions of the national exam.